Word: homophobia
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...Kiss-in itself was intended to be self-affirmative in nature. Through the Kiss-in, we sought to assert our own good feelings for each other in public and express our sadness that homophobia exists at Harvard. We said that "Bigoted harassments against any group are unacceptable and will not be tolerated." We were asking everyone to join us in protesting a series of homophobic harassments and condemning bigoted reactions to any conflict...
...happy that the Kiss-in created a dialogue about homophobia. Yet I am frightened when the pain and fear expressed by many bisexual, lesbian and gay members of the Harvard community is greeted by defensiveness. To all members of our community, I say simply that many people among us feel so unsafe that they cannot live openly; even friends and relatives can feel forced to hide their sexual feelings. More than a few have been both verbally and physically harassed. All of us are consequently cut off from people who could enrich our lives...
HOMOPHOBIC incidents are not isolated events which affect an isolated group of people. Homophobia is a pernicious force of social control. The same homophobia that makes me afriad to go to a dance with my boyfriend prevents Congress from adequately funding AIDS education programs. Meanwhile, the disease spreads and threatens everyone. That same homophobia may discourage some women--gay, bi, or hetero--from taking a Women's Studies course because they fear being stereotyped. Homophobia involves us all, regardless of who we love, or how we define our sexualities...
Finally, let us think twice before denying homophobia around us. The Crimson recently paraphrased students as saying that the Saturday meeting was about deciding "how much toleration of different sexual orientations is necessary." That very statement is fraught with homophobia. Total toleration and even celebration of all sexual orientations--homo, bi, and hetero--is not only necessary, but is in the best interests...
...homophobic harassment to the public eye and to use them to mobilize campus awareness and concern, since victims are generally afraid to come forward with their complaints. Unfortunately, anti-homosexual bigotry is not alien to university life, and it is easy to understand the frustration which groups like Defeat Homophobia feel in trying to deal with the problem. One can therefore understand how quickly Defeat Homophobia was able to organize a Kiss-in at Mather to denounce homophobia after Sunday's confrontation...