Letter to the Editor, Oct. 25, 2007
There’s something I have to get off my chest. OK; here goes: I am a heterosexual. There; I said
it.
Some of you may be wondering whether there was a point to this, or if this is just another case of my patented irreverence. Well, believe it or not, there is indeed a point to my declaration. Based on some of the “feedback” the Gay/Straight Alliance received regarding its National Coming Out Day activities, it appears as if some heterosexuals on campus have forgotten that they, too, have a sexual
orientation.
Several anonymous letters, left in the men’s restrooms and at the G.S.A. booth itself, expressed concern that G.S.A. members were forcing recognition of homosexuality upon them by being blatantly gay. What this “writer” has clearly failed to note is that he himself is likely every bit as “blatant” about his heterosexuality. In fact, the language and behavior of heterosexual relationships are so pervasive that it’s easy to forget that they’re there.
Heterosexual people routinely and openly speak of their boyfriends, girlfriends, fiancées and spouses. They talk about and display the products of their heterosexual couplings. I, for example, am sometimes seen in the presence of my son. His appearance and personality will leave no one in any doubt that he is indeed my offspring; his very presence announces that I have had heterosexual intercourse. And yet, despite full awareness of the behavioral implications of his existence, no one cringes uncomfortably when he’s around. When I talk about my wife, no one demands that I stop shoving my heterosexuality down their throats, or complains that I’m being blatantly heterosexual. I can show affection for my wife in public without fear of either of us being harassed any further than being told to “get a room”. All of these blatant displays of heterosexuality are considered so normal that we often fail to note that they are blatant displays of
heterosexuality.
What is especially troubling about our flyer writer’s handiwork was his insistence that he accepts gay people; just not the gay lifestyle. I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling, but the only person he’s actually fooling is himself. He most decidedly does not accept (or respect) gay people. By demanding that they keep being gay to themselves—that they stay in the closet—he is treating gay people as loathsome and unspeakable. (The state of Utah, for example, treats gay sex this way by outlawing “that unspeakable crime against nature”.) Gay people are acceptable, apparently, only if they are invisible. This is neither acceptance nor respect, but rather an especially foul form of hatred.
To demand that gay people be or remain closeted is to demand that they not exist. This is, plainly and simply, rank prejudice. And this is what is truly loathsome and unspeakable. Rather than demand that others keep their orientation to themselves, a demand only made on homosexuals, not heterosexuals, perhaps those who feel this way should work on their own issues
first.
Jason A. Beyer
Psychology Instructor