I recently had a conversation with a secretary in my department.  We
were talking about same-sex couple's walking down the street holding
hands.  "Oh, I wouldn't want to see that!  How could I explain that to
my 3-year old?  He points out everything.  Like the time he pointed to
a woman with one foot shorter than the other.  It was so embarrassing.
How could I explain to him two men holding hands?"  I pointed out to
her that 50 years ago, her son would have pointed to a black person
saying, "Look Mommy, that woman is black!"  Today, it is commonplace
for her son to interact with African Americans, Asian American, etc.
Why couldn't she simply explain to her son that two men holding hands
means that the two are in love and that there is nothing wrong with
that?  She responded, "But the black woman is natural.  Some people
say that being gay is unnatural.  But I would never say that, mind
you."  As if there is something unnatural about love!

The addition of "sexual orientation" is different from other minority
designations in Carnegie Mellon's Statement of Assurance.  Forty years
ago, blacks could not ride in the front of buses in the South.  They
had to enter the Warner Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh through a side
street entrance because they were not allowed to use the main
entrance.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 decreed that this type of
differential treatment is wrong.  Affirmative action programs sought
to correct the disparities created by years of segregation.  Being gay
is different.  People cannot tell by looking who you sleep with or who
you are attracted to.  Gay people do not need an Affirmative Action
program -- we are already here.  We need the freedom to be ourselves.
That is why having "sexual orientation" in the Statement of Assurance
is important to us.

People have sent Christopher Young, Duane Williams and myself mail
complaining about our recent posts on the topics of ROTC, Kennywood
and Staff Council.  Some of these messages have made claims about our
"promotion" of homosexuality on bboards.  Others have claimed that
they are not "privileged".  We live in a world where heterosexuality
is constantly on display.  Heterosexual couples hug, hold hands, and
kiss in public.  Husbands and wives proudly display pictures of their
spouses in their work area.  Yet some would not have us display
pictures of our lovers or walk down the street holding hands -- "How
unnatural!  Don't push your lifestyle on me!"

Kennywood does not want the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Pride Committee
to have a picnic in their amusement park.  Individuals are welcome,
though, because individuals are invisible in the crowd of the park.
And if an employee calls you "faggot", "dyke" or "queer", well you
deserve it for promoting that lifestyle.

Complaints about CMU having a Kennywood Day fall upon deaf ears in
Staff Council.  "CMU isn't stopping you from going to Kennywood.  And
if Kennywood doesn't want you to be open, that's not our fault.  We
want to go anyway."

And ROTC.  They do so much good by providing scholarships.  It isn't
CMU's program.  Those people that are told to hide their sexuality, a
very personal aspect of who they are, aren't our problem.  We aren't
doing anything wrong.

The freedom to be open is the motivation behind the gay rights
movement.  The addition of "sexual orientation" to laws and policies
banning discrimination gives us the freedom to 'come out' without fear
of loosing our jobs or our homes.  This freedom to be open is why we
oppose ROTC, which hurts people by forcing them into the closet, into
invisibility.  It is why we are angry at Kennywood for denying us the
right to be open.  And it is why we are fighting in Staff Council for
the right to feel comfortable and be ourselves at CMU's employee
picnic.

Scott Safier

"Gay brothers and sisters, what are you going to do about it?  You
must COME OUT.  COME OUT... to your parents... I know that it is hard
and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the
voting booth!  COME OUT... to your relatives.  I know that is hard and
will hurt them but think about how they will upset you in the voting
booth.  COME OUT to your friends... if they are indeed your friends.
COME OUT to your neighbors... to your fellow workers... to the people
who work where you eat and shop... COME OUT only to the people you
know, and who know you.  Not to anyone else.  But once and for all,
break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions."  
-- Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office and
who was assassinated in 1978