Let's suppose for a minute that Mr. Garrett's only concern is with God's and Jesus' dictates, as revealed in the Bible. Jesus, interestingly enough, never speaks about homosexual behavior. He does, however, say that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 20:24), and counsel his disciples, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth" (Matthew 7:19). So no equal treatment for rich people, right? Earning lots of money is surely a mutable behavior.
Perhaps Mr. Garrett is aware that although "men lying with men" is described in one Old Testament passage as an abomination, eating shellfish is denounced seven separate times in the Old Testament as, again, "an abomination." What are Garrett and his like going to do to save society from shellfish-eaters?
If anything is a perversion, surely it is this use of "religion" to promote intolerance. I was raised in a devout Southern Baptist household, and while I value many things about my religious heritage, I learned while I was still a teenager, attending a racially segregated church, that there is a difference between morality and religiosity, righteousness and self-righteousness.
There is thus no need for any individual or institution to "legitimize" me, or for that matter, any person or relationship. What we all do need is simply the assurance that we will be able to work and study in an atmosphere that is free from discrimination, harassment or intimidation. Religious bigotry helps create the atmosphere within which gay/lesbian/bisexual people are taunted, ostracized, estranged from their families, beaten up, fired from jobs in which their sexual orientation has absolutely no bearing on job performance and even murdered. All in the name of God.
Saralyn Chestnut
Office of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Life
Would the Report have published this article if it had been about Jews or other religious minority? If his quote had been, "To be prejudicial against others in terms of aspects that can change (benevolent discrimination), such as behavior, is appropriate. Jews can change, and indeed many have." I think not.
Perhaps you were confused because Mr. Garrett started off by saying that his editorial was not pugnacious, that his intent was to oppose opposite-sex partners receiving benefits. Yet in his next paragraph he states that if you believe that the issue is about giving homosexual partners benefits, you are either naive or ignorant. This should have been your clue that this article was not about benefits. He then goes on to try and justify discrimination, blame society's ills on gays, forecast the demise of Emory and attempt to read a dead man's mind.
Emory Report should apologize for publishing this repulsive garbage, and perhaps Mr. Garrett should read Matthew 7:1-2.
Rick Coleman
Emory College Office
Character assassination has always been the preferred method of scapegoating homosexuals. Mr. Garrett tries to compare homosexuality to a "depraved behavior." He also tries to distinguish a malevolent discrimination versus a benevolent discrimination. Within these parameters, he tries to create the assumption that homosexuals are more immoral and less valued than heterosexuals. It is just this kind of demagoguery that is incompatible with democratic ideals and strikes fear and dismay in me.
I would hope that I would not feel threatened for my personal safety or my fiscal security when my inalienable rights are challenged on such a presumptive morally superior platform. But I do feel threatened, because Mr.Garrett isn't the only one who would attempt to deny me equal rights. There are many others who would condemn and segregate me without ever knowing me. That's discrimination.
The Board of Trustees has taken a positive and encouraging step for equality within the Emory community by approving the domestic partner benefits. Maybe Emory can be an example for a more perfect world where all humans can be valued for their contributions.
Joseph Cribb
Candler Library Resource Center
Do you think it makes me or the many other gay, lesbian and bisexual students, faculty and staff feel good to be compared to "psychopaths" and called "perverted" people who practice "depraved behavior?" Do you think these statements are going to somehow help build a sense of togetherness between different people here at Emory? I doubt it.
Everyone who is a member of the Emory family should take a moment and look around them. More likely than not, someone who is your friend, your co-worker, your mentor, or your boss is also a homosexual. Bottom line is -- he/she is still a fine person. Hopefully, the staff members at Emory Report will think a little longer before publishing a piece of writing that will offend a large number of people trying to make Emory the best it can be.
Rick Kern
Association of Emory Alumni
Mr. Garrett would have you believe that gay, lesbian and bisexual folks choose their homosexuality and that they can change it whenever they please. You don't need a direct line to God, which Mr. Garrett seems to think he has, to realize that this line of reasoning is totally specious. In reality, studies have shown over and over again that sexual orientation is generally fixed at a very early age and that it does not change over time.
Many GLB folks--and I'm one of them--go through a period in which they engage in heterosexual activity, chiefly as a means of trying to fit in with society at large. And they sometimes even claim to have been "cured." But it is almost always the case that these "cures" are accompanied by a high degree of religious or social pressue to conform and that they don't last--it turns out that even when same sex activity stops, same sex feelings remain.
The converse is also true. Over the years, there have been many studies of people in gender segregated environments. When there are no opportunities to engage in opposite sex activity, many people whose orientation is heterosexual engage in same sex activity. Engaging in same sex activity doesn't change their sexual orientation. The bottom line is that sexual orientation is just as immutable as race, national origin, gender or even right vs. left-handedness.
Ultimately, Mr. Garrett's objections rest solely on his misconstrued reading of the Bible. Thank heavens we live in a democratic republic, and not a theocracy, or Mr. Garrett would be free to apply his prejudices without restraint.
Richard P. Jasper
Acquisitions Department, General Libraries
Re: Behavior
I think that senseless violence is illicit, illegal and immoral, and
those who
support it in all its forms are depraved. I think that we should worry
about
the rising costs of health care due to behaviors which lead to heart
disease
and lung cancer.
Sincerely and straight,
Mary Parks
Emory College Office