Commentary
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October 1986
The Carolina Gay and Lesbian Asso
ciation is an "officially recognized,
semi-independent" student organization
at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. The CGLA is funded by
Student Activities Fees by vote of the
Student Council and through CGLA
fundraising activities.
cl986 by the Carolina Gay and Lesbian
Association.
All material appearing in Lambda is
protected by federal copyright law and
may not be reproduced, in whole or in
part, without the express permission
of the publisher.
Lambda can assume no liability for
errors, whether made by the original
writer or by Lambda in editing or
production, beyond the printing of a
correction or retraction.
Opinions expressed by columnists,
photographers or by any other artistic
expression are those of the writers
and artists and do not necessarily
represent the opinions of Lambda or
the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Associa
tion. Publication of the name, pho
tograph, or likeness of any person or
organization in the articles or ad
vertising in Lambda does not imply and
is not to be construed as any indica
tion of the sexual orientation of such
persons or organizations.
We welcome your comments, criti
cisms, and information. If you would
like to be part of the staff, call the
CGLA office.
Lambda is distributed free on the
UNC-CH campus at the Carolina Union
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tion form elsewhere in this issue).
Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association
Box 39 Carolina Union 065A
University of N.C. at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Office: 230 Carolina Union
Phone 919-962-4401
Editorial Staff: Greg Johnson, Lynn
Hudson, J.R. Key, Kim Turnage,
Robert Reid-Pharr.
Writers: Jim Duley, Beverly Adkins,
Jill Duvall, Linda Holzer, Greg
Johnson, Lynn Hudson, Patience
Vanderbush.
Poppycock
Poppycock. Sheer, unadulterated,
state-of-the-art, bonafide poppycock.
This is the sentiment of the general
student body and the understandable reac
tion of the CGLA to yet another outlandish
proposal by the so-called "Students for
America" regarding a referendum to decide
whether CGLA a University-recognized orga
nization, has a right to receive student
fees.
Before debating the merits of such a
proposal, I think it is important to un
derstand the political ties and funding of
this neoconservative activist group. Stu
dents for America was conceived by right-
wing religious and political groups back
in 1984, presumably to bolster the media
image of today's college population as
Reagan-Bush-Falwell fanatics. In essence,
a Republican cheer leading section. Since
that time many writers have compared them
to Hitler's Youth, another blind-faith or
ganization of a not-too-long-ago era.
Upon close analysis, SFA does not ap
pear to have as much popular appeal or
political clout as they would have them
selves to believe. SFA, a national orga
nization, is funded almost exclusively by
N.C.'s very own National Congressional
Club, the political arm of U.S. Senator
Jesse Helms (R-NC). A fractional part of
their budget is provided through their an
nual dues; however, for the most part what
we have here is an outside organization
created and financed for the sole purpose
of interfering in matters of public policy
at state and private universities across
the country.
SFA has a very specific social agenda
to stop the perceived "moral decay" of
U.S. society. They want to overturn the
1973 Roe v. Wade decision which legalized
abortion. They want to frustrate the gay
rights movement and reverse the gains
which gays and lesbians have achieved in
recent years. They want to stop the
spread of "secular humanism," an umbrella
concept which is supposed to cover liber
als, scientists, agnostics, atheists, com
munists, free thinkers, union members, the
Democratic Party, Catholics, Jews, Mus
lims, the State Department, or anyone else
who dares to contradict the Holy Bible
(King James version), Jesse Helms, or
American Christian tradition.
Narrow goals for narrow minds. Of
course, I haven't listed all their objec
tives, only a few related to social
policy. One can also examine their
propaganda campaigns in regard to the Con
tra terrorism in Nicaragua and their
refusal to acknowledge that the atrocities
committed under South Africa's apartheid
system should be stopped now. Oh well,
you get the picture.
With this information, I sincerely hope
that you will proceed to analyze proposals
such as the one to defund the CGLA with a
deeper awareness of the prejudices and
directed hate which they embody.
-Mark Donahue