To the Editor:
I went to Yvette Schneider's presentation last week and, as someone involved in the planning for the pre-talk rally in front of Dartmouth Hall and the Candlelight Vigil for closeted students and allies that night, I came ready to listen and ready to question. I am dismayed to see so many people accusing "the DRA" or supportive students in general of coming to unjustly vilify Yvette Schneider. (I should note that my planning group was gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and ally people. Some claim affiliation with DRA, some do not) Most people who came there and wished to question Ms. Schneider's message and present another view could not vocalize that when the question period was ended. I don't want to blame the students and community members who did vocalize their feelings, either. What was expressed was hurt, not hate. And while I regret that some of that expression of hurt took the form of vengeful personal attacks on Ms. Schneider herself, I do think it was understandable. As she implied that their identity is not compatible with their religion, that they can change who they are attracted to and that therefore that identity is not legitimate, they felt personally threatened and attacked. What to me is more offensive than the way anyone acted at the presentation is the response by some of the students in this paper. They labeled the GLBT community as a whole and its supporters as hateful, uninterested in First Amendment rights, and guilty of stereotyping against the Christian community (a community many GLBT students and allies are part of). Many of those writers refer to the GLBT students at Dartmouth and their supporters as "they", "the DRA", or even "the opposing party." As a supportive student, I don't see how those writers can ignore or belittle the struggles of our classmates, teammates, friends, and family members by focusing solely on the emotional responses of a few members of that group. I support the right of GLBT people to not have their identity questioned, to not be called immoral or corrupt, to not be encouraged to repress their true self as a way to find "salvation." I support their right to self-respect. I support their right to express themselves as they are, instead of how a small number of intolerant people wish them to be. And in supporting them, I must stand against the intolerance and, I would go so far as to say, oppression of groups like the Family Research Council.
