As a long-time supporter of LGBTQ rights, I have become increasingly concerned with the attitudes and actions of those who share my views toward those not yet "converted." I use this term because, to me, many "liberal" supporters of causes favored by those on the left ironically emulate their religious, fundamentalist opponents in taking harsh, intolerant stances against those not in their camp. Those who do not subscribe to the prescribed set of beliefs are heretical and not to be tolerated.
A lack of tolerance and respect for people with differing world views is not unheard of amongst modern college students. For example, this past May, a number of Swarthmore College students advocating divestment hijacked a Board of Managers meeting, protesting and ejecting everyone who disagreed with them in other words, everyone else. Another student wrote an article entitled "F*ck Your Constructive Dialogue," encouraging students to abandon civil discourse in favor of tactics based on excluding opponents from dialogue.
Such tactics were emulated in print and electronically by opponents of the nomination of the Right Rev. James Tengatenga. I won't pretend that Tengatenga was the ideal candidate for the position of the Tucker Foundation dean, nor will I defend any explicitly anti-gay statements, with which I disagree strongly and condemn. However, the way his nomination was simply dismissed out of hand by people who had not even bothered to look at his history on the issue indicates a troubling intolerance among those who genuinely seek to promote acceptance of minority groups on campus.
Certainly, Tengatenga's statements in support of same-sex marriage were awfully conveniently timed to coincide with his nomination. But the same can be said of President Barack Obama, whose "evolution" on the issue coincided with polls showing a majority of Americans supporting gay marriage. Obama's statement was widely hailed as a leap forward for gay rights, while Tengatenga's endorsement of gay marriage was ignored by people who simply wanted him kept out for committing thought crimes in the past.
Why is one man and not the other forgivable by so-called "liberal" activists? Is it the fact that Obama is a major face of the political faction with which most American gay rights activists associate? After all, Tengatenga merely staked out a position on gay acceptance in opposition to the majority of churches in Malawi, which mostly support keeping laws banning homosexual relations on the books. Further, he received endorsements from people recognized as major proponents of LGBTQ rights in Africa, such as Rev. MacDonald Sembereka, Rev. Dr. Canon Kapya Kaoma and Joyce Banda, president of Malawi.
While these things don't automatically qualify Tengatenga as an exemplary champion of LGBTQ rights, it should at least earn him a second chance in the eyes of those concerned with improvement in human rights conditions worldwide. Instead, many champions of gay rights have shown that they only care about whether somebody is in their camp the progressive, Democratic camp. As Tengatenga himself said, "It's... sad for the liberalism they claim."
If "uncertainty and controversy" regarding Tengatenga's appointment really "compromised his ability to serve effectively as dean of Tucker," then Dartmouth, an institution that prides itself on diversity, has grown intolerant of people with diverse perspectives common outside the Ivy League bubble. As the Tengatenga case shows, this is apparent even if those people have renounced those views. Those who support equality and tolerance have discarded the roots of liberalism and the liberal arts education dialogue, reason and understanding in favor of a crusade to purge the campus of opposing viewpoints.
Partially thanks to these crusaders' efforts, numerous minority groups have been able to make great strides towards equality on college campuses. However, different groups that hold more "traditional" positions are gaining legitimacy in their claims that they are being repressed on college campuses due to many progressives' puritanism. This is a different, far less malicious breed of intolerance than the abominable bigotry many LGBTQ students have to suffer, but it should not be tolerated nonetheless.
