Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Gay People? What gay people?

Well, here I am again. When I sat down to write this post I was debating how much I should tell you about my school, you know what with wanting to practice safe surfing and all. I settled writing that I go to a small/medium, fairly conservative religious school. Needless to say, in order to be consistent with the tradition of the school, the official position is that they frown upon homosexuality, or rather, homosexual activity. Because of this, an attempt a few years ago to create a Gay Straight Alliance was shot down, a fact that I only learned when I came out and was looking for somewhere to go for support.
It's as though they're trying to deny the existence of gay people on campus, or at the very least undermining the importance of gay people on campus. If there is no support group, then the homosexuality will be less likely to exist. I find it a bit ridiculous and insulting. It's hypocritical too, since they recently made a big deal about an inclusiveness/diversity effort that they're making. I'd mention some of the statistics in the report, but that report was for 'internal use only' so I'd be in deep trouble should I discuss anything in it with someone not a part of the college.
In light of the new effort to be inclusive (which, to be fair, was started after the GSA was shot down a few years ago), I've been considering trying again to start up a GSA, using the whole diversity thing as one of my arguments. I'm hesitant though, because a few of my friends, though supportive of me are on the conservative side, and this might cause tension if I really push the issue. On top of that, I really don't like drama or being the center of attention. On the other hand, I really feel compelled to do something, moreso than I have for any other cause I've come across. I doubt anyone is reading this, but if you are I'd like your opinion. What should I do in this case?

1 comments:

  1. Hello,

    I am sorry your school sends such negative messages to the non-heterosexual members of your campus. If I were you, maybe stressing the straight component of GSA will help your case, say you want to help educate people and promote tolerance. One of the goals of the group could be hate crime prevention. I don't even know how you feel about the word tolerance (personally I want more than to just be tolerated) but those conservative folks seem to like it.

    I don't really know if this is useful advice, but I came across this blog while I was about to start reading your story titled Demonstrations (which I still plan to do). Cool idea.

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