Op-Ed: Sexual Ignorance Is Rampant
Item
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Title
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Op-Ed: Sexual Ignorance Is Rampant
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Description
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Op-Ed about the general ignorance surrounding sexuality prevalent in the University community. Author calls readers to educate themselves and to interact with the Gay Liberation Front on campus.
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Creator
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Campus Times
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Date
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1977-10-26
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Format
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Newspaper
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Language
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eng
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Publisher
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University of Rochester
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Rights
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This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
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Source
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Campus Times (October 26, 1977), Campus times (University of Rochester), LD4747.C197, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
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Text
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Is the Gay Liberation necessary at the UR? Of course not. This is an enlightened intellectual community, what need is there for Gay Liberation here?
Anita Bryant’s ongoing crusade against the rights of gays, the Massachusetts House of Representatives recent defeat of a gay rights bill, the condemnation of homosexuality by the Bishops of the Episcopal church, the suspension of the Boston University gay group, the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case of an Oregon teacher dismissed for admitting he was gay, the same court’s refusal to hear a similar case of a New Jersey teacher who was fired because he was president of a gay organization; all these examples indicate the discouraging state of gay rights in this country. If this is not indication enough, the Ku Klux Klan have been openly advocating the extermination of gays.
Without tackling the question of the resurgence of the right, one can see from these few examples that ignorance, if not our worst enemy, is perhaps its most potent weapon. And ignorance about homosexuality in this. allegedly enlightened academic environment is rampant.
My own experiences at Rochester indicate that a surprising number of people here have never spoken with an openly gay person. Surprising when one considers that by even the most conservative of estimates there are at least 200 gay undergraduates, living in a supposedly tolerant environment. From my work with the Gay Liberation Front I have a good idea of the extent of this ignorance. There isn’t the space here to describe all the misconceptions and stereotypes I have encountered here on this campus, but I will list a few common ones: all homosexual men are effeminate, all homosexuals are neurotic and unhappy, lesbians can’t have satisfying sex, homosexuals don’t form lasting love relationships.
These are just a few examples. If you believed any of them, you are badly misinformed. Even if you didn’t, chances are you have more than a few misconceptions about gays, and it’s even more likely that you don’t know much about homosexuality.
I hope this to be the first in a series of articles. Education is only a starting point for Gay Liberation, and on this campus educating people about homosexuality is sorely needed. Come down and talk to me, or the other members of the GLF. We are your fellow students, and we’ll be glad to talk to you. A GLF member will be in Room 101H of the Ruth Merrill Center in Wilson Commons, Monday through Thursday from 7 to 10 pm. Our phone number is 275-6181.
Come and talk to us. What you learn could do you, and us, a lot of good.
