LETTER: Rally article lacked info

Editor,

I am writing to express my extreme disappointment with the paper’s coverage of the recent rally by the College Republicans in support of traditional marriage.

First, the major theme of the article appeared to be the many expressions of dissent exclaimed (loudly and repeatedly) by those who opposed the demonstration. Indeed, the subtitle of the article was “Traditional marriage rally flooded by vocal dissenters.” To say that the rally was “flooded” by dissenters is like saying the recent Democratic primaries were flooded by Wesley Clark supporters. The dissenters were the clear minority of those attending the rally. For the most part, the cheers and chants by those in support of the petition greatly exceeded those of the opposition, drowning them out much of the time. If someone who had not attended the event read the article, they’d likely think it was the other way around.

Also, the article was far too kind in it’s coverage of the demeanor of the opposition. Only a small portion of what was said was actually reported. For a large part of their protest, the opposition resorted to calling their opponents Nazis, fascists, Hitler or bigots. There were even some, albeit few, who made slanderous comments about others’ religious beliefs. Ironically, the only homosexual slurs uttered during the whole event were made by the protesters in reference to themselves. For some reason, none of this made it into the article.

The editorial page discouraged this type of discourse and activism and called for a more reasonable forum for debate, saying that “Logic persuades better than anger.” Well, this was not a debate. Instead it was the medium used to obtain signatures on a petition to demonstrate support of a particular measure. Supporters of gay rights and gay marriage have had numerous protests, forums, debates, and/or film festivals on campus without any significant harassment or disrespect (certainly no name-calling). The same courtesy should be extended to those who disagree with their positions and a paper published by and for the students of this university should support that.

M. Bryan Hickman