Di's Food for Thought...

Diversity enthusiasts and challengers across the nation are talking about William and Mary University - a predominately heterosexual institution, crowning its first transgender homecoming queen earlier this month. If you read the blogs in the various media sources that reported on this story, much of the uproar is from people who are not students or alumni but are "simply appalled" that the university and its student body allowed this type of "mockery" of the homecoming queen tradition to occur. On the brighter side, numerous folks engaged in internet conversations regarding this first have expressed an "it's-about-time" attitude and have said they are proud to be amongst a group of students/alumni that seem to be more prepared to succeed in the 21st Century.

In my day-to-day encounters, it’s become apparent to me that people who have positive non-sexual social relationships with and exposure to LBGT community members are more likely to choose inclusive environments and decision-making processes. While people who vehemently express disproval of LBGT folks almost always choose environments and decision-making processes in which LBGT folks have no voice and – sometimes – no visible presence.

I was recently engaged in a conversation with African American women/mothers about Morehouse University’s decision to bar male students from wearing women’s clothing on campus. All of the other women felt the school was within its rights and that the action taken was the moral thing to do because “these boys who walking around in women’s clothing are a disgrace to the school, to our race and it’s just a sin against God!” When I reminded the group that these boys in women’s clothing were also God’s creations and that they have rights that should be protected at an educational institution that accepts funding from both State and Federal sources, the women insisted that homosexuals should have no such rights. When I asked the women if the school officials were justified in forbidding males to dress in female clothing while allowing female students, faculty and staff to wear clothing most often associated with men, I was told that the school had the right to do whatever it wanted to do to protect its image. And I can’t even describe the strange looks I got when I suggested that perhaps Morehouse officials have failed to keep up with 21st Century ideas of what constitutes “manhood.” Finally, when I reminded the group that just a few minutes earlier they were talking about how unfair it was for their employer to treat them "like second class citizens" because they were black and female, they told me their fight was different because they didn't have a choice as to their race or their gender, but gay people choose to be gay.

This very heated conversation continued and one participant laughingly told the others about how her son-in-law had vowed to “beat the hell out of“ any of his sons who came home “talking that gay mess!” She shared this information with such pride that at that very moment, I said a silent prayer for all of her current and future grandchildren. I couldn’t help but wonder how many LBGT folks do you ladies already know who wouldn’t dare reveal their true identities to you if their lives depended on it, because of the sentiments you’ve already expressed about non-heterosexuals in conversations just like this one?

No wonder so many of our young folks who are confused about their budding sexuality turn to the streets and/or to other unsavory and predatory sources of support rather than to their families, their friends and/or their places of worship. I can clearly understand that for some, either option promises a beat-down for being who they really are.

Perhaps schools such as William and Mary can increase their enrollment by letting other know their student population is more open to LBGT folks than most. And LBGT male students at Morehouse surely should look around for more inclusive learning environments. At any rate, we've got a lot more work to do!

Inclusively yours,
Di Versity

marquita.olive@yahoo.com

Hi Di!

Great idea here! I want to know if it is offensive to refer to people as "Hispanic" or "Latino" if they are Mexican, Puerto Rican or from another Spanish speaking group?