Pride? Only for outliers
Today I looked at Yesterday’s Chronicle front page and saw an article titled “ECSU takes pride in new facility”. I thought, “Oh, I go to Eastern, I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about a new facility,” but then I read the sub-heading: “School opens resource room for gay and lesbian students.” This ticked me off, and I became more and more enraged as I heard the liberal spin the article was written with, as well as with the pandering from the University President Elsa Nunez (Side Note: if you feel like bombarding her office with outrage, you should be able to email her at: nuneze@easternct.edu) to the “LGBT community” with politically correct drivel.
I’m a White, Christian, Male, Evangelical, Homeschooled, Conservative, Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, Heterosexual. I don’t participate in a perverted lifestyle as do gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals (Note: I don’t use the term “perverted” as an insult or an expletive. By definition these lifestyles are perverted, as they are altering what bodies are intended to do naturally, or perverting the sexual functions with which the body is equipped.). However, it looks like I, a normal and upstanding heterosexual male, can’t have “pride.” Why just LGBT pride? If I said there should be a “Heterosexual Pride Room” I’d be immediately titled a homophobic bigot and possibly be put on academic suspensions for hateful language. A friend of mine on campus noticed something similar last semester. Chalk drawings, sanctioned by the University, were all over campus of stick figures with titles above the people. The titles were: Proud Gay, Proud Lesbian, Straight. So I can’t be a “Proud Straight?” Oh, we can’t have that – that’s bigoted and anti-unity. BULL! These so-called “anti-discrimination” and “tolerance” movements are promoting discrimination and intolerance towards other individuals.
Equal Rights! That’s what everyone spouts! “Equal Rights for Blacks!” “Equal Rights for Latinos!” “Equal Rights for Women!” “Equal Rights for Queers!” “Equal Rights for Transgendered!” Well here and now I’m going to take a stand that no one has the gumption to do: “EQUAL RIGHTS FOR HUMANS!” I disagree with homosexuality profusely as well as the whole concept of mutilating one’s own body to add or take away sexual organs, but I’m not going to promote that we ban gays from learning at a university, or ban transgendered individuals from applying to a university. Why can’t we take pride in being people who are blessed by God with inalienable rights?! Why can’t we take pride in the freedom we have as people, and the freedom we have in this nation to disagree? Why do we have to discriminate against people based on their race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, quality of life, and gender (and by these I’m referring to the politically correct discrimination against people who are: Caucasian or Asian, Christian or Jewish, Conservative or Libertarian, Straight, the unborn, and Male [or pro-life Females])??!!
At Eastern Connecticut State University, a publicly funded school, we have a “Women’s Center”, an “Intercultural Center”, and now a “Pride Room” for Gays and Lesbians. Why don’t we have a “Men’s Center”, an “American Center”, a “Pride Room” for Straights? They would either laugh or say “that’s sexist,” “that’s racist”, “that’s ethno-centric,” that’s bigoted,” “that’s homophobic.” Hey Liberals, what about “tolerance”?! I have a better idea – why don’t we let every facility be open to all students? I’m not talking about programs. I’m not talking about student clubs, run by students. I’m talking about decisions made by the higher-ups at the University about how to use student funds without the consent or input from the students.
Moreover, I’m enraged that this was kept under wraps. This, and the time when conservative speaker Star Parker came to speak, are the only 2 times on campus where I’ve seen there be a lack of publicity and media coverage beforehand…hmmm, I wonder why.
Recently at CPAC, conservative activist Ryan Sorba condemned CPAC for allowing GOPride, a homosexual republican organization, to be a sponsor. I agree with him, but at least with CPAC it is a privately funded conference where individuals can choose whether or not to support or attend the event. How much more should people be outraged when our tax dollars are spent to promote public policy agendas in our publicly funded Universities? My money and your money should be used toward education, not discriminatory policies in places which are Constitutional mandated to be non-discriminatory. I say “Eastern Connecticut State University, shame on you! Shame on you for not giving students and tax payers prior notification! Shame on you for misappropriating Student and Taxpayer funds to promote a liberal, immoral, non-educational agenda! Shame on you for brainwashing students that having standards and disagreeing with politically correct lines of thought is evil and prejudiced! Shame on you Elsa Nunez for using one act of violence against an individual, in 1998, in Wyoming, as an excuse to embezzle funds from the tax payers to make you feel warm inside! We don’t deserve this treatment, and believe me, we won’t stand for it any longer!”
Please believe me when I say I’m not homophobic, racist, intolerant, bigoted or hateful. I just believe in Freedom and Liberty. I’m against discrimination by the government using public funds. I’m for the freedom of debate and the liberty to disagree and even discriminate privately based on personal convictions. I’m trying to expose a double standard that my university has set up, and which in general, the majority of publicly funded organizations have.
I love all people, because as a Christian, I’m commanded by God to love my neighbor as I love myself. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with all people. True love doesn’t take a back seat. True love isn’t doing what makes others feel good at the expense of what’s wrong. It’s not loving to buy a smoker cigarettes, because even though it makes them feel good, it is killing them. I won’t forsake my convictions to make people feel good, because in the long run, I believe it will be damaging to the people I love — physically, spiritually, mentally — and damaging to the rest of society.
“Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me, Amen!” – Martin Luther
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This entry was posted on February 20, 2010 at 11:35 pm and is filed under politics, Uncategorized with tags America, bi, bi-sexual, bisexual, christian, christianity, connecticut, conservative, democrat, discrimination, Eastern, evangelical, Family, Funding, gay, God, hate, lesbian, liberal, love, Morality, political, politics, republican, social, society, Spending, State, straight, Tax, Taxes, tolerance, transexual, transgender, transgendered, transvestite, University. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 22, 2010 at 12:01 am
I agree with most of what you wrote except for the GOPride thing. Gays are people too. If it was Republican only, then you have a point. If they are conservative, then they should be welcome at CPAC. On stuff like this I tend to be more libertarian. I do not agree with their behavior, but they should not fear being gay and a conservative. Most gay conservatives are quiet about their sexual orientation. That’s because they don’t want to be outed and have their colleagues think differently of them.
Conservatives are our allies most of the time. Ronald Reagan said that if someone agrees with me 70% of the time, then he is not my enemy.
February 22, 2010 at 12:20 am
[...] A post about college’s love for gay diversity Stephen wrote a good post here. [...]
March 1, 2010 at 5:38 pm
This article is extremely interesting in that it is an entire 8 paragraph rant about an article that was published by a local newspaper. First, your a republican who is conservative relying on one single newsource as your own personal source of rage and ranting. FORSHAME. do your research. The Pride Room is a room dedicated to embracing Diversity, for everyone. Leave nunez out of this! She had proposed a strategic diversity plan which you can find on Easterns website, and supported this room because it falls under the campus’ efforts to embrace its diversity. DIVERSITY. Not just the LGBTQAA community. The room is a place for students of all backrounds to feel comfortable about themselves, and about the university they attend. You assert on multiple occassions in this article that the Pride Room’s opening was kept underwraps. How could this be so, when opening day the opening was packed with students.there was months of planning that went underway for this opening. No, your tax dollars did not go to adds in the local newspaper certainly not, I can assure you your tax dollars were safe from this opening. Clearly you are not as perceptive as you make known…shall I say shout at the Eastern Student Community who clearly has betrayed you in so many ways. “please believe me when I say I am not homophobic”…so your not afraid of the LGBT community however, you assert that the LGBT community is a perversion of human nature, how much more homophobic could you be. The opening of the Pride Room was not discriminatory by any means, and only promotes education that is all-encompassing, it provides resources for students. You are a Christian congratulations but by no means does that grant you the public slander of Easterns Pride Room and it certainly does not allow the discriminatory convictions that you verbally assert against the student body. You are not a peer, you are entitled to free speach, as well as entitled to disagree but tell the truth and do your research before you make such harsh assertions and assumptions disgracing our student body. EVERYBODY is here to obtain an education and with that said, as it is our liberty EVERY human being should be not only included but embraced. Your biased approach to true liberty and freedom is only confined to what makes you comfertable. COngratulations the only truth you have exposed here on this forum is how close-minded, and biggoted you are. Eastern students come to school feeling that they can go to a class without being discriminated against, or excluded, and students who believe otherwise, that LGBTQAA community should perhaps be hidden? are the very students which defy the progressive era to which we live. All of the CT State colleges have Pride Rooms of some sort. Please sir, answer me this one question…if this Room is a violation of your human rights, and you believe in liberty and justice for all, then are you asserting that the LGBTQAA commmunity is not only not-human and shouldn’t have constitutional rights applyed to them but also that they should not be allowed to attend school, because they inherently violate you?
March 1, 2010 at 7:57 pm
With all due respect “Anonymous” (how bold!), isn’t talking about me going on a “rant” very similar to the proverbial “pot calling the kettle black”? Your comment is solely a string of long run-on sentences, sentence fragments, with horrible punctuation and no paragraph breaks or cohesive structure.
You’re misinterpreting the point I was intending to make. First of all, I wasn’t attacking LGBTs, their lifestyle, or their freedom to have equal treatment on campus (and by saying the lifestyle was a perversion, you’ll recognize that I wasn’t saying it as an insult and mentioned this specifically, but was talking about it in the natural sense. [WARNING to readers: the following sentence is quasi-graphic] Any type of sexual conduct which does not involve penetration into the vagina of a female by the penis of a male, is by definition a physical abnormality or perversion, because it takes parts of the body which are meant for essentially one specific thing and uses them for other purposes (this includes: Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Sodomy, and the use of so-called “strap-ons”, dildos, and other sex toys).
If you truly read my whole post, you’ll realize that the pride room in itself isn’t the basic idea I disagreed with – I was disagreeing with any sort of a government, tax-payer funded arena which promotes or discriminates against any particular segment of the student body. If we are truly trying to end discrimination, we need to integrate society, not segregate individuals by their different characteristics.
I’m currently writing a paper, so I can’t continue this response right now. I’ll gladly continue a civil discussion which doesn’t involve insults, if you are willing to participate in an equally civil manner, and be bold enough to not use your anonymity as a disguise to who you are. Thank you!
March 5, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I agree completely with Anonymous and I love how you first off argue about punctuation and run-on sentences…really? That is your comeback? Pathetic. And the Pride Rooms purpose is to serve those that are a minority, have you ever been a minority? Didn’t think so, therefore why would you need that support? It’s meant for heterosexual and homosexual individuals, as a resource room, a support group if you will. Coming out of the closet is an unbelievably difficult experience and help and advice is highly needed. For example, heterosexual students who have newly out friends can go to the pride room for resources and support on how they can make this experience easier for their friend.
Furthermore, you discuss perversion, and you discuss the intended uses of the body. Do you not agree that God created each of us, and each attribute he gave us himself? Check your Bible, it says that many times, in many forms. Then can you please ask your God why the anus has pleasure sensors? Thanks. Why would God give us these sensors? Think about it.
I always appreciate peoples opinions and I understand that some simply don’t understand homosexuality, but you can’t say that we are separating ourselves from the Eastern Community, with the Pride Room we are simply providing support and resources for those who need it. Again, you are a white, heterosexual, male, what support do you need? You simply need education in my opinion.
March 1, 2010 at 9:31 pm
The terms “normal” vs. “abnormal” and “natural” vs. “unnatural” are terms that many scientists have moved away from due to their negative implications and judgements. Science should be value free. Instead the study of human beings discusses variations of human behavior. Culture (e.g. gender, age, religion, race) affect how we see the natural variations of the world. Intersexed individuals , cultures with more than two genders (some have 5), and the changes in what has been seen as “normal/natural” across history is balanced by allowing us to see the wide range of human behavior that is naturally ocurring.
I, for one choose not to put my cultural biases on other cultures, sexual orientations, religions. I am a spiritual person and believe that nature, created by God, allows for many variations and I do not question the judgement of the Universe or God. Education can serve to make us aware of the natural variations of the world and keep us grounded in the desire to not judge others as any other culture could judge a conservative Chrisitan for their beliefs.
“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” and “Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7)
Finally, please note that there are schools that have male studies programs and you should be encouraged to add recommend this be added to your curricula if you feel you need equal representation. This may be a more fruitful endeavor than complaining about a biased system.
March 1, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Thanks for your comment. While I disagree with you, I really do appreciate the respectful tone which you took and the way in which you presented your argument. Godspeed!
March 2, 2010 at 4:32 pm
ok seriously man, youre going to go on a rant about how its unfair to have the pride room be for gays and lesbians? first of let me say that i am a heterosexual, caucasian, baptized-christian male and i think youre seriously out of your mind for wigging out so bad about this. its not that big a deal. gays and lesbians are often times persecuted for their lifestyles, which are NOT perverted, and the only reason you call them that is because you are a close minded conservative prick, and being persecuted they would like a place to go that is a safe haven which ever person is entitled to. and also, the pride room isnt a place for them to congregate and practice their lifestyles as you seem to lead on in your ludicrous rant but rather a place where they can go and seek help for problems heterosexual asses like yourself would only discriminate them more for and also so that they can get help with trying to lead safe sex lifestyles. on a closing note, stop being a stupid, close minded, and to use your word, bigot, because you seriously are one, and dont preach equal rights for all mankind when “White, Christian, Male, Evangelical, Homeschooled, Conservative, Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, Heterosexual” people honestly and truly control almost every aspect of first world countries like america.
March 2, 2010 at 10:08 pm
I approved this comment this time, but please be respectful in the manner with which you present your debate – I don’t insult or attack people’s characters or person hood (i.e. “your are a close minded conservative prick”) and I expect the same respect. I want constructive debate, not ad hominem attacks.
Secondly, you obviously did not read my definition for perversion and I recommend that you read my expanded definition which I included in my response to “anonymous”.
March 3, 2010 at 3:27 pm
you are completley wrong, it is not mutilating bodies, its doing what is natural to us. its not a choice we are given, its in the genes, either your born with it or our not. i myself am a proud bi sexual girl, are you going to call me sick? you live in the old fashioned times and you need to get into the 21st century. you are closed minded and you need to open it up just a tad. right, rant officially over
March 3, 2010 at 4:41 pm
While I respectfully disagree with you, thank you for presenting your argument in an understandable, cohesive manner which was mostly respectful. I appreciate it.
March 4, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Stephen,
The only reason I write this is because I have a responsibility and obligation to call you to the floor as a fellow “brother” if you will- as a Christian.
I will make my comments as brief as possible and will leave this comment as my final statement with no intention of further debate or argument because we have serious fundamental differences in our understanding of what is means to belong to Christ.
1. First of all, mixing politics and religion is bad form. Though you know this next point, I feel that I must reiterate that being a conservative heterosexual Republican is not synonymous with being a Christian. America does not equal Christendom, though it may have been founded as such. Where there is human struggle for power there is greed and abuse of God’s name- which we see played out every day where people pin His name to their purpose as endorsement. Jesus said “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” and left it at that because he knew that mixing God’s kingdom with humanities twisted ways would only further conflict and completely miss the point of his existence and time here.
2. You may not be homophobic but you certainly speak like one who is. Saying that being gay is “abnormal” or “perverted” is going to be an offensive statement whether you think being gay is okay or not- and you know that. Pretending to cover your tracks by giving the dictionary definition for “perversion” is a weak and spineless way of slipping in an offensive phrase that does nothing to glorify Jesus- if that is indeed what you intend to do. How is the love of Jesus ever supposed to be communicated with deep-seeded undertones of intolerance and condemnation? Jesus spoke harshly to the Pharisees and religious leaders, not to the people who were the oppressed and outcast in society.
3. When we as Christians say, “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain”, we need to unpack this statement. Essentially, this has been used to keep teenage kids from swearing, but the implications go much deeper. To get to the bottom of this you need to understand that using Jesus’ name to justify something that he himself would never do is abusing his name. Jesus may not have agreed with the people around him, but he ate, drank, and loved them. He was relational, he was tactical, he loved unconditionally. Simply put, your words and actions DO NOT reflect the love, mercy, and grace that we are called to embody. Judgement is for God, not you.
4. Your argument for as to why there should be a Women’s Center or a Pride room and not a Heterosexual Room is poorly structured as you are overlooking one of Jesus’ most central commands to his disciples which is to work on behalf of the oppressed. 1. The GLBT community- whether you like it or not- has been oppressed and 2. the kingdom of God is available to all. Take a minute to chew on that one because I know it tastes bad going down, but the reality is that the GLBT community are children of God as well. It is the responsibility of the CHRISTIAN to make the kingdom of God accessible to all. You have tried to conceal and justify your argument by wearing Jesus’ name like a bumper sticker for everyone to see but no one to believe and the undertone of condemnation in your post reeks of intolerance and everything you said you were not being. You have done more damage to the name of God despite your intentions.
5. I understand the desire to defend the name of God. Believe me, I’m a Christian. But there is a fine line between defending God (as if he needs to be defended?) and offending people who need to hear a gospel of grace rather than judgement. The situation is sensitive as it with after centuries of abuse by the church- so do us all a favor and stop perpetuating discord.
6. I’m not attacking you- I’m challenging you and calling you to the floor. It’s easy to put it all out there and then say “God help me” as if that will somehow bring honor to God- it’s a weak offering and a poor substitute for learning how to follow in the footsteps of Jesus- it’s fake martyrdom and asking for intentional persecution.
I have no interest in further discourse on this. I have said what I need to say and will let you do what it is you want- whether you respond or not. You know who you have to answer to and so do I; we’ll leave it at that. You crossed the line and you either deal with that or continue on doing more injury than good.
April 16, 2010 at 10:51 am
Hi Stephen,
My name’s Mark DiPaola and I’m a journalism student at Quinnipiac University. I’m working on a project for one of my classes and was wondering if you would be interested in commenting on the New Haven Tea Party Patriots. We’re doing a feature on them for our final project. I can be reached at 201-274-6174. Thanks a lot.
June 18, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I’ll second that last paragraph (about being loving).