When Binghamton University student Charlotte Rendon went to enlist in the University Plaza military recruitment center, she told the officer she is a lesbian, according to a press release from The Right Side of History Campaign at BU. She was then rejected.

Like many others, Rendon was denied because of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ ‘ a policy that is clearly outdated and unnecessary. Though President Barack Obama pledged to work toward ending it in 2010 in his State of the Union address, Rendon’s situation is a reminder that the policy remains, and is keeping willing and able people from joining our armed forces.

There is no reason for this to still be the case.

It is past time for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to follow in the footsteps of laws discriminating against groups such as blacks and women, and make way for a more open policy. We are currently fighting two wars and running desperately low on enlisted men and women ‘ it seems like the perfect moment to take the next logical step, and repeal the law.

The campus chapter of the LGBT equal rights national activist group ‘The Right Side of History’ made a Facebook group calling for a peaceful ‘Rally for Equality and against Discrimination’ to protest Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It will be held today at 4:15 p.m. in front of the University Plaza recruitment center (see Pipe Dream’s Tuesday issue for additional coverage). Though the ideal way to protest this national policy would be a trip to Washington, D.C., this is expensive and unlikely to occur at this point in time; the UP event therefore has the potential to be a good first step in raising campus awareness of the absurdity of the policy.

And, as long as it sticks to its original point and remains a peaceful gathering, it should be. To be at all successful, the target must be firmly established as the policy itself, not the people in Binghamton and similar communities who have no choice but to implement it. If the event transforms into a protest of our specific recruitment center, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars or the military in general, however, and neglects the policy, it has the potential to do more harm than good.

So, by all means, attend the rally and learn more about an important issue that’s sure to gain prominence in the news in upcoming months. But when you do, remember exactly what it is you’re protesting.