By NILS VAN OTTERLOO
Staff Writer
 

Last week, prior to my lab, I stopped to urinate in the downstairs men's room of Chase Hall, and was presented with a very, in my position at the time, strong juxtaposition which left me rather unsettled. Here I was, phallus in hand, urinating into one of two urinals, and I was forced to read a poster (there are many posters in Chase Hall, most of which I don't read for lack of time/interest, but this one was completely compelling by deign of content/position) hung directly in eyesight above the urinal by members of the G.L.B.A. The content of the poster was an announcement of a "Questioning Your Sexuality" session specifically for men.

Of particular interest in the poster was the tag-line which read thus: "Removing or defacing this sign in any way denotes homophobia within the character of the defiler (sic). Please leave this sign alone." Now myself, being someone who has questioned my sexuality and even at one time engaged in homosexual acts though I consider myself heterosexual, I was presented with a powerful mix of emotions ranging from interest to abject distaste. I was presented with two options: 1) Deface/remove the sign in order to remove my own personal sense of discomfort even though the sign told me not to. 2) Leave the sign alone and continue my day knowing that the shock value of the sign would be only temporary.

I left the sign alone (though upon reflection I wish I hadn't) and continued to class. Following class I required another pit-stop (I had been pounding back D.C.'s all day to keep me going) and what I found when I returned to the Chase Hall men's room shocked and horrified me to the core. Within the span of one hour, some character(s) of little worth had taken the signs and placed them within the urinal, where men, doing what comes naturally, were defiling the signs in the most heinous way.

Now I am one who believes, though some of my thoughts concerning marginalized group's vocality range to the conservative end of the political spectrum, that everyone, no matter what, deserves to be respected and have their voice given due audience. My greatest condemnation is held in reserve for the people who take it upon themselves to subject other people to the humiliation and degradation that they themselves would never think is their justly deserved reward for being such misanthropic, low cultured people. These people must be vilified! We must make it known that their acts are cruel, without merit, and will not be tolerated if we are truly committed to creating a just society for ourselves here at Bates. These are the acts of a small minded, hastily raised minority and they have demonstrated by their lack of candor that their voice/presence in campus affairs should neither be recognized nor affirmed in any way. I certainly could have written this piece about how I felt violated by the G.L.B.A.'s poster, as could they, but instead they chose to express their views in a mindless act of cowardly insignificance, in effect proving everything the poster hoped to demonstrate.

Now, I have a suggestion which I believe could help remedy this present situation, if not cure what I sense is a more culturally rampant disease of which this act is a symptom. In order to prevent acts like this from happening in the future I suggest that we, as scholars and members of the human community, hold ourselves and our peers in greater scrutiny, and take action against the aspects and actions we perceive within our small community that are disadvantageous to the formation of a completely egalitarian vibe with regards to the treatment of all peoples here at our school.

I know this goes against the "don't make waves" attitude which I sense is rampant here as well as at other schools around the country, but I believe if something is worth maintaining, which in the case of maintaining a friendly, conducive atmosphere for learning about people from different walks of life than our own, it is vitally important. While I may not be Christian, I do believe that Christ's teachings, especially the part about doing unto others as we would have them due unto ourselves, are relevant to modern society, and perhaps nowhere else but in an academic environment can they be truly realized. But alas, that is not the case. I yearn for a time and a place in which everyone was judged by their personal convictions and actions, rather than by false designations of race or sexuality. It is time for those of us who feel this way to make our presence known to inform those who would act with such low regard for their fellow man that their time is past due.