I am writing to provide my perspective on the upcoming May 23rd talk by Yvette Schneider. Schneider will be addressing the question, "Can homosexuals change their orientation?" Yvette Schneider claims to have spent six years as a "practicing lesbian and homosexual rights advocate" before becoming a Christian and "exiting the homosexual lifestyle." She now speaks out against the "homosexual activist agenda" and reaches out to those still "trapped" in that lifestyle, according to the information on the so-called "Family Research Council" website.
This talk is sponsored by Voces Clamantium, and is receiving College monies. A proposal for the "other side talk," intended to bring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christian perspectives to campus has been refused by the group.
I really had to think about why the other side of the issue would be "refused" to be heard by the group. But the more I think about Schneider's view on the "homosexual lifestyle," the more I realize how ridiculous the argument she is presenting really is.
A useful experiment for testing the bigotry that underlies her perspective would be to do a little switching of terminology. I wonder what would happen if we no longer treated the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community as the "other" or the "minority", but instead tried a thinking experiment where the heterosexual community is being "othered" as part of the minority. I invite the students, administrators, faculty and alumni to imagine a talk of the type Voces Clamantium is presenting, where the word "homosexual" is replaced with the word "heterosexual."
Would the college ever consider sponsoring a talk about "Can heterosexuals change their sexual orientation?" Would we ever invite a speaker who claims that s/he was "a practicing heterosexual for six years," before having an epiphany and "exiting the heterosexual lifestyle"? Would we sponsor someone who wants to discuss the "heterosexual agenda" and how we should "reach out to those who are still trapped in the heterosexual lifestyle?" Would we think that this "let's change heterosexuals" talk will contribute to the diversification of our college community?
If the idea of a talk on "reaching out to those trapped in the heterosexual lifestyle" sounds ridiculous to you, then you have just realized the essential idiocy and ignorance with which this view is being propelled. The College would never sponsor a talk on "exiting the heterosexual lifestyle" because this would be an argument that is hateful and intolerant, and there is really no logical argument that can refute this illogical message of hate. Now I have to wonder why, when the terms "heterosexual" and "homosexual" are placed in their "proper" places (with the heterosexuals in the majority of our campus, and the LGBT members of our community in the minority), this topic becomes valid and deserving of the College's sponsorship.
I also wonder how this talk would be received if we substituted other minority groups in for the LGBT community being targeted here. Would "Voces Clamantium" and the College administration sponsor talks by the Ku Klux Klan? Certainly we wouldn't think that the KKK's racist rhetoric would be a community-broadening event worthy of our respect and our College sponsorship.
My message to the supporters of this event and the members of our college community is this: Don't be fooled.
Schneider's talk is another hallmark of the lack of understanding and the backward thinking that anti-minority hate groups spew. This talk contributes nothing to our College's community; inversely, it functions only to expose our community to oppressive, ludicrous and bigoted thinking. This is only a "voice calling out from the dark" inasmuch as it is a voice that should return to the dark, spiteful and ignorant depths from which it came.
