This is a great idea from a very observant AMERICAblog reader, "fabfemme." (Our posts have some of the best ideas and commentary...love 'em)
By now you should know about the National Council on Family Relations breaking its own rules and banning its own research to give the Bush White House its straights-only online clearinghouse on marriage. That's right, no research on gay marraige or civil unions even though it's legal in 2, going on 3, states. But NCFR isn't simply breaking its own rules -- they're asking the universities participating in the project to break their rules as well.
Exhibit A: Syracuse University. A professor at Syracuse is one of the key participants in developing NCFR's anti-gay website. We'll leave his name out of it for now. But Syracuse University has rules too. Rules like:
Syracuse University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, national origin, religion, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a disabled veteran or a veteran of the Vietnam era to any extent discrimination is prohibited by law. This nondiscrimination policy covers admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in University programs, services, and activities.The NCFR project definitely violates the spirit, and some may argue the letter, of the policy. Syracuse also has an LGBT Resource Center -- I imagine they're familiar with the rules.
Maybe we should make sure everyone's in the loop. Remember, the LGBT Resource Center is one of the good guys. Let them know what's going on.
Also, maybe we can ask NCFR executive director Michael Benjamin (mbenjamin@ncfr.org , (202) 659-1190) if he was aware that he wasn't just breaking NCFR's rules, but also asking people at colleges and universities across the country to break theirs as well.
And one last thing, NCFR. Americablog's been writing about this all week...but John's been out of town. He'll be back all refreshed and ready for the next battle. You do know about Microsoft, right? Just keep that in mind. All I'm saying is you need to follow your own rules and make this right.
