"Our Perspectives on Homosexuality."

"Our Perspectives on Homosexuality."

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The Grizzly

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Ursinus College

1995-1996

As co-President of GALA, I cannot allow Dr. Nagy's letter to pass without comment. In it, he attacks GALA for trying to "intimidate" other members of the campus into silence and uses an incident that occurred years ago to emphasize his point. Let me first say, that l do not know about the situation Nagy referred to. I was not yet an Ursinus student. However, contrary to what Nagy writes, it is not a stated goal of GALA to intimidate anyone. But yes, we want to educate people, make the campus a more welcoming place for all diversity and make people aware that homophobia is no more acceptable than racism, sexism, religious intolerance or any other discrimination. Therefore, we do not try to silence reasonable and mature discussion on the subject, and I am appalled that any
professor at a liberal arts college would seek to dismiss and silence such discussion.

With that said, as a GALA representative I would like to make a personal comment. I notice that yet again we have returned to the Biblical argument to condemn homosexuality. I have two major problems with this use of the Bible. First, the assumption that the Bible
is or should be the moral standard for all people completely ignores the fact that there are millions of people in the world who do not recognize it as such, including some members of the Ursinus community. Secondly, it is incredibly easy to take Biblical passages out of context and give them whatever meaning suits a person. For example, the story of Sodom (Genesis 19) is often cited to say that homosexuals are condemned by God. However, the rape of the angels who visited Lot by the town's people gave no indication that the town's people were gay. Rather the rape, just as it is today, was used as a means of power and humiliation, and it is for this reason that the town was destroyed.

I think that people who point to isolated passages of the Bible to judge those who are different from them are missing the point of what is really being said. For those of
us who do look to the Bible for guidance, the message is that we are all sinners who need not to judge one another but should pray for the grace to follow Jesus' example.
He, by the way, never uttered a recorded word on the subject of homosexuality. Rather, He preached love and understanding.

-Alison P. Heely
Co-President of GALA

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I am writing this in response to Dr. Nagy's article in The Grizzly. I have been watching the comments and articles about homosexuality and homophobia come and go in
The Grizzly over the past few weeks and I have held my opinions to myself. However, when I saw Dr. Nagy's article, I decided I had to finally "come out" and speak up.

First, I'd like to address some misconceptions that Dr. Nagy and perhaps other members of the Ursinus Community have. I do not remember ever using the phrase "peer pressure" or "intimidation" in association with the eradication of homophobia. I do not see how
these things could be used in connection with the eradication of homophobia. I do know that GALA is trying to educate the campus on misconceptions of gays and lesbians and our lifestyle. I don't understand how education couId be seen as intimidation.

Another misconception that Dr. Nagy has is our state of happiness. When I read that he said that "most of those who experiment with alternatives to the traditional Judaeo-Christian standards for sexual behavior eventually make themselves and others miserable," I had to laugh out loud. I know that I have personally been a lot happier since I' ve come out and so have most of the other gays
and lesbians I know. The only time when I've seen people be miserable is when they know they' ll be treated with hatred and fear.

Then I considered Dr. Nagy's interesting choice of saying
"Judaeo-Christian standards." Does this mean he doesn't believe in the sexual behavior of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims or other minorities? It makes me sad that a supposedly educate professor at a liberal arts school is not willing to at least acknowledge a minority's rights even if he doesn't believe in them.

--Christopher Gaskill
Co-President of GALA

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