lgbtq
Military recruiter uses homophobic slur during ASVAB test in Durango High School: PLEASE COMMENT!
Submitted by Dirty Hands on November 5, 2009 - 3:35pmA recent Durango Herald article reported that a military recruiter was overheard by students using a homophobic slur during the adminstration of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test in Durango High School.
We would like to say we are shocked by the language of the officer described in the article, but we are not. No one familiar with the history of homophobia, transphobia, and hetero-normativity in the military would be. The armed forces of nation-states are instruments of patriarchy and a hetero-normative world view. Our lack of surprise, however, does not detract from our anger and rage against the larger social dynamics present in our increasingly precarious lives, which this incident is merely a microcosm of. We find ourselves more than anything surprised that parents and students are not more resistant to military-supervised testing in the first place, let alone the presence of military recruiters in our schools, and the overwhelmingly conservative backlash in local discourse surrounding the incident. Kudos though to DHS for at least making a bit of a ruckus about it, and not taking it sitting down.
Though by law schools receiving tax dollars must allow military recruiters to stalk their hallways for fresh cannon fodder, there are easy steps that can be taken to protect your children from these predators (at least to a certain, albeit minimal extent). Just google "military opt out form" or go to leavemychildalone.org
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