For the Next Generation of Lawyers, LGBT Rights Are Not Debatable

Empty chairs, as seen on a screen outside Hill Auditorium

UPDATED BELOW

I graduated law school yesterday, but I only attended a portion of my commencement. Over 100 graduates and guests walked out of the ceremony before our guest speaker and homophobe, Senator Rob Portman, gave his speech. I will always remember this day.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Michigan Law's selection of Senator Rob Portman as graduation speaker. He has an extreme anti-gay voting record as a Congressman. The fact that he was given the honor of speaking to us at our celebratory event has understandably caused a great deal of controversy, which I won't completely rehash here, since it is the subject of my earlier post. Earlier, I wrote:

I will not stand to listen to a homophobe tell me at my graduation that I have the whole world at my disposal, my whole life ahead of me, when he would deny access to a basic part of that world and a basic part of that life to a large portion of my class, my family, and my friends. I will not hear Senator Portman's speech because I will not sit for it. Nor will I be shaking his hand at graduation. I would rather walk out of my own graduation ceremony for which I have waited three long, hard years. I do not yet know how many of my classmates will join me. I can only hope that it doesn't come to that, and either Senator Portman or Dean Caminker manages to rectify the situation so that we can all enjoy what should be a celebratory day.

Well, it turns out that my classmates did join me, and I've never been prouder to be a Michigan Law graduate. Quite a feat for a day that had promised to make me ashamed of my school.

Michigan Law's Lesson in How Not to Treat a Student Body

Respecting someone's right to have an opinion is fundamentally different than respecting that opinion. Inviting someone who votes for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage to speak at our graduation? That's an example of the latter.

I am sad to say that I attended a meeting this morning where I proposed a walkout of my own commencement ceremony. Our Dean, Evan Caminker, oblivious to the needs of his own students, has invited Rob Portman to speak at our Senior Day. Rob Portman is a distinguished alumnus of our fine institution, the junior Senator from Ohio, and, of course, a raging homophobe. Senator Portman:

1. Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage.
   
2. Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC.
   
3. Supports a continued ban on gay people serving in the military.