LETTER: Who decides the norm?

Editor,

I am the Associated Students of Utah State University diversity vice president. It is my responsibility to promote diversity on the USU campus. I am responding to the article written by Rory Taylor, in the Oct. 10 issue of The Statesman.

In the last few issues of The Statesman a lot of letters to the editor have been written about both sides of the issue of homosexuality and some of our diverse groups on campus. Pride Alliance and ROSIE have a lot to offer students at USU. They are not exclusive groups; everyone is welcome to come to their meetings. I may not agree with their lifestyle, but I do not, and will not, outwardly judge, persecute, or discriminate against them. Homosexuals are human beings, just like Mr. Taylor.

They are my friends. I support their activities on campus as part of my job as diversity vice president and as a friend. We all have the ability to judge others, whether they are gay, black, white, Jewish, LDS or persons with disabilities. However, we do not have the ability to judge with omniscience or the right to persecute or discriminate based on our judgments. I would like to ask the question: Who decides what normal is? Is a Caucasian, blonde, blue-eyed person the norm, and everyone else is abnormal? Taylor stated that people with a sense of morality are perceived as being intolerant of those who are different. So, does this mean that because I am tolerant of “those who are different,” (as everyone in this world is) I have no sense of morality?

Angie Hammond