Page 13
Focus
Dec. 6, 2001
Alternative sexual lifestyles misconstrued by society
Darns Means
Guest Columnist
Matthew Shepard was a normal col
lege student enrolled at the university
of Wyoming. He had a loving family and
he enjoyed theatre, soccer, swimming,
running, camping, hunting, fishing and
snow skiing. There was one thing that
made him different from the majority of
the people in our society: he was a ho
mosexual.
On Oct. 7, 1998, two men lured
Shepard to a remote area in Wyoming,
where he was tortured, beaten, hung to
a fence and left to die in freezing tem
peratures. A cyclist found Shepard un
conscious and suffering from hypother
mia 18 hours later. Shepard died on Oct.
12, 1998 at 12:53 a.m. with his family
by his bedside. The men that did this to
him admitted to doing it because he was
a homosexual. He was killed just be
cause of who he was.
Many homosexuals, bisexuals and
people of alternative sexual lifestyles
endure violent acts, slurs and discrimi
nation against them every day. Some
homosexuals cover up their sexual ori
entation due to fear of being scorned,
harassed, assaulted or killed. Why are
people so against homosexuality?
“It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and
Steve,” a pastor recited in a sermon one
day. I believe some religions overrate
homosexuality. True, the Bible does say
homosexuality is a sin, but lying, shav
ing facial hair, eating pork, wearing
clothing made of more than one mate
rial and getting tattoos are sins in some
religions. No one ever makes a big deal
about the other sins.
Some religions make homosexuality
so horrible a sin overrated that people
just think of all homosexuals as evil.
This is not the case. Just as there are
good and bad heterosexuals, there are
good and bad homosexuals. However,
the negative aspects of some homosexu
als are emphasized much more than
their positive attributes. Some people
take the Bible literally, and this causes
them to commit violent acts and use
slurs against homosexuals. What ever
happened to “Love Thy Neighbor?”
Throughout media history, homo
sexuals have been portrayed as child mo
lesters, people that are very flirtatious,
feminine in the case of men, masculine
in the case of females and evil. Many
people rely on media to get information
on different issues, and when people see
how homosexuals are portrayed in the
media, they create a horrendous image
of homosexuality. A freshman at Elon
said, “I am not fond of flaming faggots
and they are just doing it for attention.”
I believe this person has a misconstrued
image of homosexuals because the only,
homosexuals he knows are the ones on
television and two gay guys he has met
in his life. With people having the im
age of homosexuality from media, they
start thinking negative things about gays,
using slurs and committing hate crimes
against them.
Homosexuals should not have to live
in fear. The people in our society should
get to know more homosexuals before
making negative conclusions about
them. We should all try to open our
minds up to homosexuals, bisexuals and
other people of alternative sexual
lifestyles.
Resources for
those interested
in learning more
about alternative
lifestyles
- Spectrum: e-mail
spectrum@elon.edu
- Human Rights Cam
paign: www.hrc.org
- PFLAG (Parents
and Friends of Les
bians and Gays):
www.pflag.org
- Equality North
Carolina:
w w w. equalitync. org
Photo Poll:
How would you What is your interpreta- How would you de-
define sexuality? tion of sexuality?
Name: Mark Ludden
Grade: Senior
Major:Music Theater
"When I think of the
word "sexuality' it makes
me think of a bed,
two naked people
and lots of noises."
Compiled by:
Michael Marlier
Name: Anne Corbitt Grade: Sophomore
Major. English
I think sexuality is something that people
often are afraid of, and it is an important
part of yourself and your expression of
yourself. And that is something I think that
a lot of people leam when they come to
college is to open up to it and that it isn't
something to be scared of, and it is not
something to be afimd of. I think that is a
shame because there is a strength in being
confident in who you are and knowing
what you want. Go for it."
fine sexuality?
Name: Amanda Braun
Grade: Senior
Majon Sociology
“I would define sexuality
as a basic understanding of
one's sexual identity."
What are problems you see with
sexuality in our culture?
Name: Alex Laney Grade:Junior
Major. Business Administration
In the American culture I think there is far too much
complacency with sex and sexuality. I think there are a
lot of people who have removed themselves from the in
timacy and true emotions that I personally think should
be associated with sexuality. You have many stories, espe
cially around this campus, of random hook-ups and
people having sex without reason. For no reason other
than what feels good. Which is okay, but it is
becoming one of those things that is
another way of getting pleasure. I personally
think there is a lot more emotion behind it.
Sexuahty is a very, very personal thing."