Word: homophobia
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...concerned that the staff position tries too hard to avoid seeming oversolicitous to a "special interest group." It has minimized the issue of homophobia in its attempt to enforce equal treatment under the law. But in doing so it has ignored the fact that The Law only exists in the manner that it is interpreted. Laws and criminals do not exist in and of themselves; they are defined by a society with certain values and certain power structures...
...Homophobia will not be defeated by Victorian morality and interpretations which ignore the social context in which events occur. Sex in bathrooms is picayune in comparison with the more substantial issues of harassment and public humiliation. This incident cannot be understood or examined by itself because it reflects a much larger cultural dilemma--a dilemma which we cannot fail to recognize...
While there is likely some truth to the assertion, it is overly simplistic to attribute the arrests solely to pervasive homophobia. It seems just as likely that the motivation for the crackdown stems from a long history of using the Science Center bathroom as a "tearoom" for anonymous sex between gay men. These men have reportedly repeatedly made unwanted sexual overtures towards Harvard students and staff. It doesn't matter whether the propositions were heterosexual or homosexual--the University has a responsibility to keep such activity out of its restrooms...
...entrapment, arrests and public flogging which took place last week highlight some painful ironies. The University, on one hand, makes few efforts to deal with the internalized homophobia and alienation that lead people to engage in bathroom...
...lobby, says Columbia law school professor Harold Edgar, "is independent of and really indifferent to the interests of the scientific establishment." AIDS lobbyists have often been motivated by fear and anger about public indifference, or even hostility, to their terrible problem. AIDS activism "has to do with racism and homophobia," says Nesline of ACT UP. "What's new is that queers and junkies started doing something about...