Letter to the Editor A pattern of homophobia at Middlebury

Author: [no author name found]

To the Editor:

This past September a first-year in Atwater Commons was forced to move from his hall after repeatedly being called "fag," instead of his first name, by his hall-mates. Despite his move, he is periodically harassed because of his orientation by these same people who have gone unpunished by the administration.

Later in the fall semester, a student in Ross Commons came home to his room in Hadley to find the word "fag" scrawled across his door. Pictures were taken by Public Safety and the incident was noted. However, it went unreported to the greater college community.

In December, a senior came back to her thesis carrel to find that an anonymous note had replaced her gay pride sticker. The note, typical of Middlebury students, had an air of respect and yet was still incredibly homophobic. The victim, an out lesbian, was asked why she had to "flaunt" her lifestyle. The author of the note, who also removed the gay pride sticker, wrote, "It would be seen as absurd for me to put up a straight pride sticker. There's something to be said about being comfortable in one's skin, but it's another to make public statements."

In March, days before Spring Break, misogynistic and homophobic graffiti directed at a dean, which used language such as "dyke" and other derogatory epithets, was found in the halls of Ross. In direct response to this incident a meeting was planned for Ross Commons by the Ross heads. However, after a vigorous poster campaign, the audience for this meeting grew campus wide.

In an effort to finally acknowledge the climate of homophobia on our campus, President Liebowitz in conjunction with the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance held a town meeting in order to include the voices of students, faculty, and staff on this serious issue. The administration had hoped that the dialogue started that day would inspire the need to take action against all aspects of discrimination on campus. It must be said that these incidents are not isolated, but rather constitute a pattern of homophobic hate speech at Middlebury that needs to be addressed.

This pattern became apparent when not long after the town meeting was held, yet another example of blatant homophobia was found on the white board of a student's door in Starr Hall in red permanent marker. The message read, "God Hates Fags."

When members of our community must come home to hateful graffiti, ignorant notes, or are forced to move out of their rooms. It affects us all. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to stand up against the discrimination that some students unrightfully endure. Most members of this campus would agree that what has happened this past year has been intolerable. Let's let our voices be heard and make the commitment to be active allies. One upcoming outlet is this Thursday, April 19th, "Break The Silence: Are There Allies At Middlebury?" at 4:15 pm in Pearson's Lounge.

Furthermore, if you or someone you know has any information whatsoever regarding who may be behind these recent acts of graffiti in Ross or Wonnacott commons, please contact (anonymously or otherwise) Lawrence Rooney, the assistant director of Public Safety, Shirley Ramirez, Dean of Institutional Diversity, or any Commons dean. If we work together we have the power to expel hate speech from Middlebury College.

Sincerely,

Christine Bachman '09.5 and Ryan Tauriainen '08

Co-Presidents, Middlebury Open-Queer Alliance

from Jersey City, N.J. and Grant Pass, Ore.