LETTER: Display was not offensive

Dear Editor,

I agree with the letter to the editor published Wednesday. If the Pride Alliance had put up a display of offensive pictures with vivid descriptions of lewd acts, people on campus would be well within their rights to block the view of said material. However, the Pride Alliance History display contained nothing that was offensive. It contained newspaper articles and historical documents regarding the Gay Community in Cache Valley. These may be controversial, but not offensive. USU is a public institution. As such, the doors are open to everyone. Gay tax dollars support this university just as straight tax dollars do. Gay students pay tuition and expect a good education in return, just as straight students do. For an official office on campus to physically divide itself from and metaphorically demonstrate exclusion of a segment of the students, faculty and staff is reprehensible. Individuals have the freedom to erect walls of division and exclusion in their own homes, in their churches, in their private clubs and businesses, according to the dictates of their own beliefs, but not at a public institution. Gay people are a part of the community. We always have been and we always will be. We are no longer satisfied to be treated as second-class citizens, staying invisibly in the closet so that we don’t make some people uncomfortable. We claim our full, rightful and equal place at the table of humanity. I feel sorry for people who cannot even bear the sight of us, let alone try and learn something from us. Ignorance breeds fear and contempt. As long as people keep building walls of division and exclusion, and refuse to even be open to information, civil discussion will not be possible. Ignorance will continue unabated and hatred and fear will flourish. Please, let’s let USU be an institution of Higher Education and Learning.

Courtney Moser Adviser USU Pride Alliance