Friday, April 12,1991
Rights of gays
at discretion
of University
Christian Gribbie
Reader’s Opinion
It seems that over the past couple of
years, there have been great strides
made at Texas A&M regarding the
rights of gay and lesbian faculty and
students. This is all now changing.
Recently, I learned President Mobley
has signed into University law anti-
discrimination language which omits
discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. I don't pretend to
understand all of the inner workings of
campus politics, but it seems clear to
me the end result. Without the
inclusion of this language, Mobley has
given his approval to discrimination
against gays and lesbians.
Surrendering to the pressures of
economic gain and alumni support,
Mobley, against the advice of the
Faculty Senate, has omitted an
essential and most basic right.
If you are a man, a woman, a black,
an atheist, a Catholic or a member of
any group, you have rights — the right
not to be discriminated against — that
is unless you happen also to be a gay
man, a gay woman, a homosexual
black or any other type of homosexual.
You then are at the mercy of anyone
who wants to discriminate against you.
When one group's rights are allowed
to be violated, this is an invitation for
those asserting power to selectively
discriminate and cut off various
segments of society which they feel are
inappropriate. This could mean
anyone. In the chaos of World War II,
Hitler took it upon himself to violate
the rights of thousands of Jews and
homosexuals. Was it appropriate for
his morality to be so brutally imposed
upon a people whose lives varied from
his definition of normalcy?
In the April 3 edition of The
Battalion, in a section titled, "We asked
and you said ... Are gays discriminated
against at A&M?," the overall view
seemed to be one of "I don't know if
there's discrimination" and an overall
unawareness of the gay population.
I'm writing to tell you there is
discrimination and hatred.
There is a huge gay and lesbian
population at A&M. It is underground
and discrete for good reason. Almost
everyday, I hear people, often people
who are my friends and co-workers,
make derogatory comments about
homosexuals in front of me, not even
considering the possibility that I am a
lesbian.
I love A&M as much as any Aggie,
but I also would like to be counted
among the Aggies whose rights don't
come under the scrutiny of this
administration, who then decide to
carve them up and limit them.
I'm not sure of the repercussions of
this letter, either personal or for the
readers. In writing this letter, I feel
certain I have shocked and horrified
many. In signing my name to this
letter, I am risking the friends who
assume I am a heterosexual. I believe in
all that I've written though, so I
suppose I shouldn't feel uncomfortable
with this risk.
I am one of many students and
faculty who are homosexual. Don't
assume you can spot us a mile off —
don't assume you know how we feel —
and don't assume your rights are any
more valuable or any safer than ours.
Christian Gribbie is a senior
psychology major.
NEW
Mail Call
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Please include name, classification, address and phone number on all letters. The editor reserves
the right to edit letters for style and length. Because of limited space, shorter letters have a better
chance of appearing. There is, however, no guarantee letters will appear. Letters may be brought
to 216 Reed McDonald or sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111.
Were our forefathers Christians?
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to Dan Purvis' April 2 Reader's
Opinion: "Bible serves as true, inspired word of God."
First, Purvis and his fellow signers said, "We believe
the Bible is the inspired, infallible word of God." One ex
ample which leads me to believe that this might not be true
is in the text of the document to which he refers. In Mat
thew 1:6-16, there are 28 descendants from David to Jesus.
In Luke 3:23-31, there are 43 descendants from David to Je
sus. This simple contradiction seems to question the infalli
bility of the Bible.
Second, Purvis says, "God has not turned His back on
us, He loves us so much that He allows us the freedom to
choose for ourselves." Yes, Purvis, your god does allow us
the freedom to choose for ourselves. He allows us to
choose to bow down, follow him and go to heaven; or to be
individuals, not bow down to him and go to Hell. This
does not seem to be the sort of ultimatum that a caring cre
ator would give us.
Third, Purvis states, "It should also be mentioned that
at one time, our forefathers, a large number of whom you
might call radical Christians today, were termed 'radicals'
because they were willing to die for what they believed
in." Both Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine were not
Christians. The myth of all our founding fathers being
Christian is just that, a myth.
Thomas Paine, the writer of "Common Sense" and a
Diest, also wrote a good book called "The Age of Reason,"
a book that I hope all you good educated Aggies out there
will take the time to read, if you haven't already.
In closing, I would hope that all Aggies, no matter what
race, religious background, sex, etc. will take the time to
learn about the beliefs of everyone around you in this
world, because I'm sick of hearing people tell me that
Texas A&M isn't a world class institution.
David Cooksey '94
Laws won't end armed violence
EDITOR:
Larry Cox's article on a waiting period for guns had to
be the largest collection of irrational and unfounded argu
ments found in one place. Although he criticizes waiting
period proponents for teary-eyed emotionalism, his de
fense is emotionalism ad absurdum, invoking a scenario in
which innocent citizens are left defenseless against terror
izing villains, all of whom got their weapons at the
friendly, neighborhood, illegal gun-mobile.
He mentions a Department of Justice study which
found that 21 percent of felons who acquired guns through
retail means would have found non-retail means preferra-
ble and accessible if a waiting period was in place. That
would mean up to 79 percent of felons would have been
prevented, a damn good number for such a simple piece of
legislation.
He also says waiting periods discourage handgun ac
quisitions, compromising citizens' abilities to defend them
selves. Except for criminals, I don't see how anyone who
wanted a gun would be deterred at all, unless they were
too shy to talk to the store clerk or something. Whenever I
try to understand the urgency some people feel against
this legislation, I always imagine this picture: a humble citi
zen runs into a store, rushes up to the clerk saying, "Q-
uick! I need a gun, and I need it NOW!"
I can assure Cox that I don't consider a waiting period
to be a substitute for tougher laws against crime. But it is
naive optimism to believe tough laws alone will be a cure-
all for armed violence, or to believe we suddenly will find
an abundance of empty jail cells in the near future with
which to carry out tougher jail sentences.
He did do a pretty thorough job, however, of bashing
Mrs. Brady, saying she was emotional in her argument for
a waiting period. If a concern for human life is considered
"blatant emotionalism," then I guess I'm on her side.
Chad Redman
graduate student
Don't stand for discrimination
EDITOR:
For the first time in our history, the Texas A&M Rules
and Regulations book gives the right to gays not to be dis
criminated against in the form of the addition of the words
"sexual orientation" to a list of groups/people already pro
tected by this document. This has been a major break
through in the fight for gay civil rights here on campus.
This wording has been given only as a "statement" and has
yet to become "policy."
After the Faculty Senate's overwhelming vote to make
this statement a policy. President Mobley has signed a re
vised statement which does not include the protection of
gays. Once he gave us rights, now he's trying to take them
away. When one minority's rights are violated, who's to
say another's won't be? This only threatens other minori
ties' rights by saying "it's okay to give rights to a group of
people, then take them away!"
I challenge every member of every minority and major
ity alike to take a stand against this form of discrimination.
You can express your feelings by writing to our student
body president, Mobley or by petitioning against this op
pressive action. We must all work together to fight for ev
erybody! This will not give gays any "special" rights that
aren't already held by all other groups here at A&M. We
are your brothers and sisters and by helping us, we will
someday be able to help you. , _ „ „
y Jeremy C. Collette '94
Tolerance has
become apathy
in our society
A
, nyone who says that
American college students have no
morals is in lulu-land. Of course,
cheating might be commonplace now,
shacking up may be the way to go and
drugs might be a way of life for many
of us. But we have something those old
farts who judge us didn't have:
tolerance.
Yes, "tolerance" is touted as the
social fix-all of the modem age. This is
obviously social progress taking place
before our very eyes.
After all, our bigoted forefathers
literally hated homosexuals and
hippies and anyone else who wasn't
identical to them in every way. But
now, instead of walking up to people
and saying "I HATE YOU," the
advanced among us can walk up to
people who are different and announce
"I TOLERATE YOU." Wow, as the
advertisement states, "You've cornea
long way, baby."
If this sounds absurd to you, you're
not alone. For, what's being pushed as
tolerance these days is actually no more
than benign apathy. How do I know?
Look at the new and improved Golden
Rule: "Live and let live." This can be
clearly paraphrased as, "You be
apathetic about the way I live my life,
and I'll be apathetic about the way you
live yours."
^ ^lf you don’t care about other
people, thenSJive and let live’is
a great motto for you. At first, apathj
can be a difficult attitude to embrace,
But you 11 get accustomed to it. II
Millions and millions have, after all
Regardless of what the dictionary
says, psychologists tell us that hatredii
not the opposite of love. Indifference
is. At least hatred acknowledges one's
humanity.
No one can hate a liquid or a gas. In
fact, I am downright apathetic about
most of the gases in the universe. My
opinion is that as long as they don't
bother me, I won't bother them. Does
that statement sound vaguely familiar’
Don't get me wrong. I'm not for
hatred. As far as I'm concerned, alltlit
hatred can stay in the factories in Hell
where it is produced.
But this benign apathy is really no
better. I mean, if you saw me rolling a:
the side of a cliff (whether or not I
could "help it"), I certainly would hofi
you would try to help me.
If you don't care about other peopls
then "live and let live" is a great motta
for you. At first, apathy can be a
difficult attitude to embrace. But you-
get accustomed to it. Millions and
millions have, after all.
On the other hand, for those of you
who are interested in a life of love, to
honest-to-God Golden Rule istheoto
one you'll need: "Do unto others as
you would have others do unto
you."
Tim Truesdale is a graduate student if
urban planning.
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