Apr 18th, 2007
Anti-gay grafitti at Middlebury, queerspawn speaks up
The head of a group supporting LGBT equality at Middlebury College is queerspawn. In a recent op-ed in the campus newspaper, she writes about the impact of recent anti-gay graffiti at the school, and how harassing hate speech specific to sexual orientation should not be trivialized with the justification that it is simply “free speech.”
Emily Nelson ‘08 writes:
As the Co-President of Ally Group and the daughter of lesbian parents, I am deeply disturbed by the way in which many Middlebury students twist the concept of free speech. Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in free speech, but the latest trend around here seems to be writing off complaints about serious incidents and injustices as ‘liberals not wanting to hear anyone else’s point of view.’ … I would love to see more respectful, thought-provoking dialogues take place on this campus. But there is a difference between conversations which demonstrate diversity of opinion and and those which protect people who commit obvious offenses to our entire community.