OCTOBER 21, 2011
New Paltz is fortunate to be a diverse community—a campus
where diversity along the lines of class, race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual
orientation, disability and religion is understood as the mark of a vibrant,
democratic institution of higher learning.
Celebration of and respect for diversity are among our core values and
in our interactions with colleagues and students, we honor and act upon these
values.
As lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender and
queer (LGBTQ) faculty and staff, the campus climate regarding sexual
orientation has personal significance for us.
And here again, we value our institution’s progressive stance on sexual
and gender identities which don’t fit neatly into our society’s dominant
cultural categories. The college, for
example, includes “sexual orientation” in its official non-discrimination
policy; it provides health insurance and other benefits for domestic partners;
and it has gender neutral bathrooms for transgender members of our
community. These policies and practices
have contributed, in our view, to a campus environment where explicit
homophobia is rare and, when it appears, not tolerated.
These laudable aspects of the college notwithstanding, we
recently find ourselves deeply concerned.
The backdrop for our concern is the national discussion about recent
suicides by young gay-identified students in the United States. Less than two weeks ago, Rutgers
undergraduate Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge after
public humiliation linked to his homosexuality.
This horrific episode–the fourth nationally publicized gay teen suicide
in September–serves as a tragic reminder that some LGBTQ youth, even on
progressive college campuses, continue to feel shame and despair around their
sexuality due to a climate of intolerance.
This is shocking and painful for us, and we ache for Tyler’s family and
friends. Even as this tragedy is
grieved, violent attacks against young gay males have been reported, including
in the metropolitan New York area.
We cannot help but observe that this tragedy has taken place
during a national moment in which a mean-spirited rhetoric of intolerance has
been on the rise. Here in our own state,
this rhetoric has found a popular voice.
Last week, for example, the prepared comments of New York state
gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, included the statements “I don’t want
[children] brainwashed into thinking homosexuality is an equally valid and
successful option – it isn’t,” and that there is “nothing to be proud of in
being a dysfunctional homosexual.” Much
as we would like to dismiss Paladino (who later backtracked on his comments) as
a fringe voice, he remains a viable candidate, and similarly homophobic
candidates have appeared around the country.
(Perhaps most notoriously, Delaware senatorial candidate Christine
O’Donnell recently proposed on ABC News that homosexuality is “an identity
disorder”—despite the fact that the American Psychiatric Association and
American Psychological Association have considered homosexuality to be a normal
variation of human sexuality for nearly four decades). That ignorant, hateful
comments like these have gained momentum in 2010 suggests to us that LGBTQ
young people, paradoxically, inhabit a world of both growing respect and growing
hostility towards sexual diversity.
While we take some comfort in the hope that a suicide like
Tyler Clementi’s could never happen at New Paltz, we are troubled by the
silence over this tragedy here on our own campus. Our concern reflects our firm conviction–proven
all too clearly at Rutgers -that gay-positive policy alone doesn’t ensure a
campus in which gay people feel affirmed and safe. In such times as these, the voices of the
students, staff, faculty, administration and broader community need to sound
loud a clear message of support, respect and dialogue. Silence is not an option when hate speech,
bullying and discrimination are aimed at vulnerable members of our larger
community.
We are heartened by the wellspring of vigils, petitions and
grassroots activism that have emerged nationally around the recent
suicides. As shining examples of some
new and longstanding initiatives and resources, check out the “It Gets Better”
project, The Trevor Project/Suicide Prevention Resources, Gay Lesbian and Straight
Education Network and Campus Pride.
We begin here to break the silence with a message to any
student or member of the SUNY/New Paltz community who is experiencing the fear,
loneliness or discrimination that sometimes comes with being lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transsexual, transgender or questioning–any sexual identity that falls outside
mainstream heterosexuality. You are indeed in a caring community and there are
many gay and straight people here who support you unequivocally.
Karl Bryant, Women’s Studies and Sociology Departments
David Cavallaro, Art Department
Mary Beth Collier, Academic Advising
Giordana Grossi, Psychology Department
Morgan Gwenwald, Sojourner Truth Library
Benjamin Junge, Department of Anthropology
Amy Kesselman, Women’s Studies Program
Steve Kitsakos, Department of Theatre Arts
Rachel Mattson, Department of Secondary Education
Emily Puthoff, Art Department/Sculpture Program
Peri Rainbow, Women’s Studies Program
Carlton Rounds, Center for International Programs
Purnima Schachter, International Studies
Jason Wrench, Department of Communication & Media
Nicholas Wright, English Department
Columns, op-eds and letters, excluding editorials, are
solely the views of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of
The New Paltz Oracle, its staff members, the campus and university or the Town
or Village of New Paltz.
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