Word: bgltsa
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...debate concerned a resolution sponsored by council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05 and Andrew C. Stillman ’06 in support of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. Jordan B. Woods ’06, political chair of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA), spoke to the council in favor of the bill, which urges Harvard to remove male or female designations from all single-occupancy bathrooms...
...this particular case, BGLTSA co-chair Stephanie M. Skier ’05 has decided to liken the battle for gender non-specific washrooms to the much more significant fight for handicap-accessible bathrooms. Her comparison of the plight of a transsexual person to the plight of a paraplegic is not only absurd but also highly offensive to both the disabled and transsexuals alike. Suggesting that the discomfort felt by a transsexual choosing whether to enter a door marked with a stick figure in a skirt or pants is comparable to that suffered by someone who does not have...
...BGLTSA’s world, it seems, comparisons like this one are de rigueur. And in this instance, what is perhaps most disturbing is that no one seems surprised that BGLTSA has once again pursued a minor issue by these comparisons and by labeling those who stand in their way “transphobes.” These inflammatory turns of phrase might seem to be merely new additions to the English language’s already-rich vocabulary, but their effect in the long run can be much more pernicious. For instance, labeling someone a “homophobe?...
Beyond its rhetoric, BGLTSA has made a name for itself by holding workshops on sex toys and sadomasochism as well as inviting groups to campus with names like “The Lesbian Avengers” during its recent month of events, “Gaypril.” And in this way, too, BGLTSA excels at turning what might be an opportunity for serious and valid causes into theater of the absurd. Making the face of gays at Harvard that of a masked and over-sexed person with whip-in-hand does little to endear them to the general...
BGLTSA’s bathroom proposal is not innately silly. (As we have mentioned, single-stall bathrooms sans gender specification is helpful to all who need to relieve themselves). But the general demeanor of BGLTSA and its politics certainly is, and it does nothing to help gay people on this campus. If BGLTSA wants to achieve things that ensure that people are treated justly, it should engage in debates and show critics the alleged error of their...