, 1997
Monday • October 6, 1997
O The Battalion
PINION
15
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Board
incy
thief
eber
Breaking down the closet door
5 s 'Aggzes, Americans must learn to tolerate people without focusing on sexuality
later
ion Editor
P'
It;
Michelle
Voss
columnist
overnment nor society
owns people’s souls. Yet
Americans perpetually
— .confuse the role of the govern-
" iment and social agendas. The
role of the government is to
Same P rotect ^t)erty, not to enforce
social opinion as law.
;exual$ Every generation in America
selects a subgroup to stigma-
ignorance ( j ze shameful moments in our
, , nation’s history include the ex-
as a whoe • *• ^
termination of the Native
recurring ^ mer i canS( t h e conflict over
P 0 the institution of slavery and the subsequent battles
, for civil right s. Today, the plight of the homosexual
ve at 1 romimimty is this generations great civil war.
Aggies and Americans have an obligation to
to o^ n change their discriminatory and prejudiced atti-
~ aides toward homosexuals and to become more tol-
vorld m erant homosexuality. Americans cannot allow so-
V .. r , ’ mo ' e iciety and the government to squander the rights of
1 v 6 - 116 !? I homosexuals* This is America, the land of the free,
■flees of ^ eca ^ that the great moral teacher Jesus of
States e J^ azaret h was persecuted and crucified by his gov-
jernment. And as what? A blasphemer. This man was
. . Sasocial outcast because of his “irreligious” opinions.
ic opinion, i Likewjgg, the innovative Grecian philosopher
^monstrae 1 x
“ , ’Aocrates was put to death by his government for
I corrupting the youth and impiety.
ggies. Today, homosexuals are social outcasts because
ler students J
ofwhat society deems to be “irreligious” behavior.
Our society daily crucifies homosexuals.
‘ bewild Wfmther ^gy great thinkers such as Jesus and
is ewi et- jQ^gg or j ust y OU anc j j everyone has the common
bond of being human. Everyone can shed a tear,
smile or sneeze. All of our bodies will decay and our
time on earth is limited. In that time on earth, do not
choose to hate and persecute — it just is not worth it.
If a person is leading his or her life without inter
fering in yours, then you should not interfere in
theirs. If you are free to make the choice to many
whom you please, to worship the god you please or to
express what you believe, it should then follow that
another individual (who might happen to be homo
sexual) should have the exact same rights.
tivities, or
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Homosexuals in our nation are unjustly facing
persecution. Only those insecure in the power of
their beliefs will spew venomous remarks towards
those who are homosexuals. The choice to pursue
their sexuality is the right of homosexuals. Neither
you, nor I, nor the government should infringe
upon this freedom.
People are not bound to seek the company of ho
mosexuals if they do not wish to do so.
People choose the groups to which they belong.
Within these groups, people may say what they
please and do as they please. Outside of these
groups, Americans must understand and tolerate
the fact that other groups exist. People may believe
in different systems of morality and conduct than
our own. This is the nature of American democracy.
Yet, Americans have become slaves to socially
accepted morality. No one is free to be a dissent
ing thinker for fear of persecution. The modern
regime of public opinion is, in its ugliest mo
ments, social tyranny.
Homosexuals are not at liberty to unite in mar
riage because our society is chained to the despo
tism of custom. Imagine if homosexuals were the
majority of our society, and heterosexuals were not
permitted to marry.
America cannot truly hope to provide liberty and
justice for all citizens if citizens cannot even treat
each other equally.
It is a sad day when society determines an indi
vidual’s truth or reality. In America, individuals are
at liberty to pursue happiness as long as their ac
tions do not violate the rights of others. Therefore, it
is a social evil for the collective to interfere in the
private affairs of homosexuals.
Aggies can effect change through tolerance of
homosexuals. First, by realizing that we are all hu
man and should be treated equally. Second, by un
derstanding that, as Americans,we all have the free
dom to differ and make different choices. Third, by
learning not to speak hateful words that only hurt
and destroy.
No one is born a bigot. We learn to hate. You can
choose to tolerate.
Michelle Voss is a sophomore English major.
One person’s story...
\Christian damnation of homosexuals only leads to tragedy; harms all involved
“I
Michael
Schaub
staff writer
munity news
m.
gh Friday
g
g Edition
: M 90.9
/ Bryan
ociety
can’t ever let
anyone find out
I’m not straight.
It would be so humiliat
ing. My friends would
hate me. They might
even want to beat me
up. And my family? 1 Ve
overheard them.
They’ve said they hate
gays, and even God
hates gays, too. Gays
are bad, and God sends
bad people to hell. It really scares me when
they talk that way because now they are talk
ing about me.” — Bobby Griffith, diary, 1979
In a picture taken in 1980, Bobby Griffith
stands with his mother, Mary, in front of her
old blue Volkswagen. He is a good-looking kid
at 17, muscular, with longish black hair and
muscular arms.
Bobby Griffith was gay. His family vocally
disapproved of his sexual orientation. He
would wake up to find his mother praying
over Iris body for his conversion, Bible verses
taped to his bathroom mirror.
On Aug. 27, 1983, Bobby threw himself off a
bridge and into the path of an oncoming
truck. He was 20.
Journalist Leroy Aarons chronicles the life
of Bobby and Mary Griffith in Prayers for Bob-
b]':A Mother’s Coming to Terms with the Sui
cide of Her Gay Son.
Bobby’s case is not unusual. At least one
study has shown that one out of every three
gay or bisexual teen-agers has attempted
suicide.
"1 can feel God’s eyes looking down on me
with such pity. He can’t help me though, be
cause I’ve chosen sin over righteousness.” —
Bobby Griffith, diary, 1981.
This is not an obituary 14 years too late.
Bobby Griffith is dead, but there are thou
sands of gay teen-agers going through the
same thing he did.
The “Christian message” Bobby received
all his life was this: God hates sin, and he was
a sinner. Sure, he could earn God’s love
again, but only by renouncing his homosex
uality, by turning his back on the very nature
of who he was.
Even after he did the hardest thing in the
world to do — come out to his family— he
was met with hatred and intolerance in the
name of religion. He was treated as if he were
sick, dirty, sinful.
He was told he was unable to have a rela
tionship with God.
Anyone looking for a reason for the alarm
ingly high suicide rate among gay youth
should look no further.
Gay men and women everywhere are met
with the same religious intolerance. Funda
mentalists and haters have tried to rob homo
sexuals of the one thing that should be sacred:
their religion and their spiritual well-being.
Christianity is not about hatred. The Bible
does not preach intolerance. Only people do.
And as the Bobby Griffith case demonstrated,
the effects are very tragic and very real.
“Dear God: Are you there? I ask because I
really don’t know.... Sometimes I hurt so bad,
and I’m scared and alone. I wonder why you
or somebody doesn’t help. I’m so mad and
frustrated, I seem to be at the end of the road.
Why do you remain silent?” — Bobby Griffith,
diary, 1979.
Homophobia on this campus is pandemic.
Two years ago, a coalition of campus Christ
ian groups ran an advertisement in The Bat
talion stating homosexuality was a curable
disease. Last semester, the A&M Christian Fel
lowship brought preacher Tom Short, a noto
rious homophobe and anti-Semite, to the
A&M campus.
Only the vocal minority of Christians are
homophobes, but they have a way of
spreading their message of hate under the
guise of incontrovertible fact. They twist
Biblical passages into statements of intoler
ance, and tell students that God hates them,
God hates what they do, God hates the way
he made them.
Homosexuals should be able to exist with
out harassment on any level. But Christian
groups on this campus have gone well be
yond contempt by converting the comforting,
loving words of religion into hate propaganda
that would make the Ku Klux Klan think twice.
“Sometimes I sense that life is very fragile
and that at any given moment it could be
snuffed out the way a candle is by a sudden
draft. I just want someone to protect me.” —
Bobby Griffith, diary, 1982.
Mary Griffith’s Christianity did not survive
her son’s suicide. She is now a gay rights ac
tivist, and still blames herself, and her church,
for Bobby’s death.
Many gays, of course, still find comfort in
religion. The fanatics have not scared them
off, and they are still able to accept The Bible
for its true meaning of love.
If there is a lesson in Bobby Griffith’s death,
it is this: Hatred cannot be justified by any re
ligion. Love is unqualified and unconditional.
Do not let what happened to Mary Griffith
happen to you. The suicide of a loved one is a
wound that never heals. You will spend your
life in regret and in mourning, and no one will
be able to give you comfort.
Not even God.
Michael Schaub is a junior English major.
Jeremy
Valdez
columnist
V
i Center
3
Mail Call
leutel treatment
befuddles student
Here’s a little story for all
eAggies of Texas A&M.
I was playing intramural
“rtsketball at Reed the other
bight when an unfortunate in
dent occurred. I was struck
a We my eye with an elbow
I suffered a pretty nasty
The emergency guy cleaned
bpthegash pretty good and in
formed me that I had better go
get a few stitches. Here is where
all the fun started:
Being that all the players
were guys( in their male per
ceptions), my teammates
claimed that I was okay and
that I should have no problem
driving myself to the emer
gency room.
My male ego was going right
along with them, assuring me
that I was fine and able to take
care of myself.
Beutel was right around the
comer. As I pulled up to the in
famous “Quack Shack,” some
thing struck me as strange. All
the lights were out.
I walked up to the doors and
to my surprise, they were
locked. I stared in disbelief at
the sign that read “OPEN 8 a.m.
- 5 p.m.” It was 10:30 p.m.
I walked around the back
looking for an emergency en
trance, but I only found two
janitors chatting by the dump
ster. I explained my situation to
them.
One of the janitors informed
me that unless I called 9-1-1 to
get picked up, the building
would remain closed.
I contemplated driving about
20 feet down to the emergency
phone, dialing 9-1-1, laying
down on top of my truck and
pretending to be dead.
Instead, I had to drive to the
other side of town where I was
finally taken care of at the Co
lumbia Medical Center.
The point here is that I am
completely clueless about
where all the fees we as stu
dents pay are going.
Even though we pay for its
jobs, the administration seems
to tailor the University’s ser
vices to its own convenience,
not the students’.
All I can say to you fellow stu
dents is that if you get injured
one of these days, please make
sure you do it between the work
ing hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Otherwise, take some Tylenol for
your pain, and please wait until
the next morning.
Gordan Vuckovic
Class of ’9 7
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opinion editor.
Nr
how you feel
about homo
sexuals, you
should rec
ognize that
gay issues
are political
plutonium.
A few
weeks ago
CNN carried
an unconfirmed report from a
Stanford University official that
Chelsea Clinton had requested
another roommate because the
one she was originally assigned
was a lesbian.
Now, as a rule, rumors make
horrible news. However, be
cause of President Clinton’s
love-spit-love relationship with
America’s “gay community” (a
ridiculous term, since there isn’t
only one) this Chelsea-related
gossip provides for an interest
ing thought experiment.
If the story is true, it’s irony at its
finest: the President who has sup
posedly done more to bring homo
sexuals into the political main
stream can not or will not persuade
his own daughter to share ramen
and a wipey-board with an honest-
to-goodness lesbian.
If false, it still raises a great
question. How would the first fam
ily handle a gay roommate? The
story would probably unfold pret
ty much like the CNN report.
That’s because homosexual is
sues are nothing more than politi
cal tools for Clinton, and he ma
nipulates them with skill that most
nuclear power plant workers
would envy.
Because just like plutonium,
when the gay-rights movement is
properly cajoled and contained it
can reach a sort of critical mass. In
a chain reaction of social activity,
homosexuals can produce an
amazing amount of voting power.
Used correctly, the power is
enough to help elect a president.
There is some nasty waste left
behind, though, because when
you woo gays and lesbians with
promises of equality under the
law, they have the nerve to hold
you to it.
Clinton rose to power with a lot
of promises to a lot of people, and
perhaps no group has been cheat
ed worse than homosexuals. As
liberals busied themselves by por
traying conservatives as homo
phobes and bigots, it was Clinton,
not the often-blamed congress,
who quietly screwed gay people by
crafting a meaningless “don’t ask
don’t tell” military policy and sign
ing the bill that denies federal
marriage benefits to gay couples.
So the political landscape for
homosexuals in the United
States continues to be surpris
ingly easy to map; conservatives
disapprove of gays, while liberals
simply use them.
The liberals’ contract with gay
America will always be breached
precisely because of the false sin
gularity of the term “gay commu
nity”. There are actually a million
kinds of gay people.
Not all of them are as cute and
endearing as the poster gays that
get paraded on TV. Not every ho
mosexual is an attractive profes
sional who desperately wants a
marriage and a family.
Whether or not the community
admits it, it contains transgendered
guys who get a kick out of having
both breasts and testicles, weirdo
lesbians whose offensiveness rivals
Jimmy Swaggert’s, obnoxious
punks wearing shirts that say
“Bring back the lions.” (the kind
that eat Christians), and a number
of pedophiles who belong to some
thing called the North American
Man-Boy Love Association.
And those are some tough
puppies to sell.
Certainly every group has fac
tions on the edge. The Klan, Earth
First, and people who bomb abor
tion clinics come to mind. Howev
er most groups don’t let the nuts
do the talking for them.
Since gay America continues to
embrace and be defined by its ever
expanding lunatic fringe, it will
continue to be suckered into pow
ering a political machine that will
turn around and bury it like spent
nuclear fuel.
Chelsea has a right to choose
who she does or doesn’t live with;
I once got rid of a roommate be
cause he read out loud.
So the little CNN story,
whether it is truth or fiction, isn’t
interesting because she made a
choice. It’s interesting because it
brings to mind the phrase “not in
my back yard.”
That’s where we want our nu
clear waste, and that’s where
politicians, even the liberal ones,
keep our homosexuals.
Jeremy Valdez is a senior
journalism major.
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