Evidence Of Hate At Michigan Tech University

Webster’s dictionary defines homophobia as the irrational fear of homosexuality or homosexuals. Such fear breeds anger, contempt and disgust, leading the frightened to lash out in inappropriate and immature ways.
That’s exactly what happened on the campus of Michigan Tech University early Friday morning when someone wrote in multi-colored chalk hateful slurs and threats of beatings and mutilations of gays from the ground in front of the Memorial Union Building down to the Rozsa Center. As of Friday evening, it was unclear if the perpetrator was a student.
MTU President Glenn Mroz called the chalkings “completely unacceptable.” We agree. This incident, though not representative of the character of the university as a whole nor our community, does provide extreme evidence of hate and bigotry breeding in our midst. Whatever one believes about homosexuality, vandalism, slurs and threats do nothing to increase our understanding of what makes each of us different yet human.
In the last decade, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) community has worked towards “coming out of the closet” and engaging more fully in mainstream society through parenthood, marriage and equal opportunity in employment. They are being met with great resistance, much of it religion-based, but some based strictly on fear of the unknown, the different, the strange.
Human sexuality is deeply personal and complex. Unfortunately, in our culture, it is also often misunderstood, exploited, twisted, reviled, revered, feared and flaunted. Our Puritan roots clash with our lustful voyeuristic tendency as evidenced by the 3.1 million people who buy Playboy magazine each month and the millions who visit Internet porn sites each and every day. It’s no wonder the mere thought of homosexual behavior makes some people uncomfortable so they avoid it, which only leads to more fear and misunderstanding.
Last week, Keweenaw Pride, a student organization for the GLBT population and their friends, held a series of events designed to get people communicating. Titled Gay Pride Week, it was a way for “straight” and GLBT people to meet and bring their concerns into the open.
Perhaps the “chalker” hoped to cast a pall over the week by striking fear into the hearts of the very people he or she feared and drive them back into the darkness. If so, he failed. Instead, the incident got the community talking about what it’s like to be gay in our society in 2006. Score one for Keweenaw Pride and zero for bigotry.
from The Daily Mining Gazette