Oregon State LGBTQ Group Members Say Veteran Group Threatens Well Being of Vulnerable Students
Matt M. Miller | Contributor
Members of Oregon State Universitys LGBTQ student group, the Pride Center, called for the Veteran Student Association (VSA) to be prohibited from meeting in a lounge on campus in a since-deleted Facebook post.
The Mar. 15 post characterized the presence of the VSA in the student lounge as threatening to “the well-being of many vulnerable students,” saying the Pride Center was concerned about “a particular type of American patriotism that would be promoted by centralizing the Veteran Student Association in the SEC.”
The Pride Center post expresses that the groups affiliates would be vulnerable to the presence of the VSA in the Student Experience Center Involvement Lounge: “The communities that our organizations serve are vulnerable to the ideological and practical consequences that this decision would bring about.” (RELATED: Dan Crenshaw Puts Trumps Veterans Day Whiff On Arlington In Perspective)
In their post, Pride Center members also cite the Trump administrations transgender soldier ban as a reason for their taking issue with the VSA. The post reads:
In recent years, the transgender community has been explicitly targeted by the Trump administrations decision to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military. The newest policy states that no person. . . . This push to curb the rights of transgender people to participate as fully as they desire in US society has caused much distress throughout the LGBTQ community; we are disheartened to think that our community, which has historically fought to be recognized fully as human beings, [is] being forced to continue this fight.
The lounge is supposed to be “a hub within the Student Experience Center for students to connect with resources, campus opportunities and student organizations,” according to the Oregon State University website.
Campus Reform spoke to the College Republican President at Oregon State University about the Pride Centers post:
The College Republicans President at OSU, Peter Halajian, told Campus Reform that he cannot see how this is not an attack on veterans, and argued that nobody cares where the VSA office is located. He called the letter “disgusting,” “shameful,” and “hypocritical.”
“Its simply the reasoning given that is a disgusting attack. Furthermore, no one is forcing the Pride Center to be in favor of any war; past, present, or future! The fact that the mere sight of veterans services on campus is disturbing to them is just plain sad,” Halajian said. “The Pride Center cant on the one hand claim to support veterans well-being (or support LGBT+ veterans at all for that matter) and then be against a conveniently located center for them to get the services and support that they need.”
After six days, the Pride Center finally decided to remove its original post and put up a new post attempting to disassociate the message of the first post from the Pride Center itself, instead pinning it on the opinions of “individual students” associated with the organization. (RELATED: Number Of Homeless Veterans Drops Under Trump, Continuing Trend From Obama Administration)
The new statement reads:
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