The Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Organization will hold an open forum this afternoon to address issues surrounding an anti-homosexual flier it received in its Hinman Box two weeks ago.
The forum will take place at 4 p.m. in the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences.
"I think it's important for the entire community -- whether gay, straight or bisexual -- to come together and really engage in a dialogue about some of the systemic problems relating to homophobia on this campus," DaGLO co-Chair Earl Plante '94 said.
DaGLO received a flier in its Hinman Box on Feb. 16 informing the group of an anti-homosexual meeting scheduled for Feb. 18.
The flier promoted a discussion titled, "Let's talk about faggots," and said the meeting would address topics such as "Is it OK to shoot gays? Do we have to accept homosexuality?" The discussion never took place.
Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson, Dick's House Director of Counseling and Development Jeffrey Hersh, Health Resources Peer Education Coordinator Bart Bingenheimer '94 and History Professor Annelise Orleck are scheduled to speak at today's forum, Plante said.
In addition, an as-yet unnamed student will speak about issues related to being "out" at the College. "We haven't decided who the student is. It might be me, but it might be someone else," Plante said.
The forum is not aimed specifically at discussing the flier and its contents, Plante said. Instead, Plante said it will focus on homophobia in general.
"The main reason we're not just focusing on the flier exclusively is that we don't want to come down to their level," Plante said.
"I would guess the huge majority of the people on campus don't even share their sentiments, so it's not even worth getting into at the forum," he said.
Orleck said she would talk about how the flier fits into the context of homophobia nationwide.
"I think that it says something frightening about the state of the community that some anonymous people thought it was funny to send what amounted to death threats to a subgroup of the community," she said.
Orleck said she would speak only briefly so as to leave more time for discussion between forum participants.
"I don't think we can tell what's going on in this community unless people come to talk about it," she said.
Plante told The Dartmouth earlier that he found the flier extremely upsetting.
"It was an outrage," he said. "I think it was very hurtful because although the radical sentiment conveyed in the flier may not be the view shared by the majority of students on campus, I still believe that homophobia is fundamentally endemic in the institutions of this College."
Plante said Hanover Police are still investigating the flier's origins.
Other comments included in the flier were "Whether we like it or not, homosexuals have an agenda aimed at earning complete tolerance and equality in America. On February 18, we will talk about why gays do NOT deserve special rights."
