This past Friday I did an experiment.
Joining my roommate on Xbox Live, we were playing the popular game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.” I took his headset and talked with the other players while he was playing the game.
At first it was just idle conversation, nothing really important and then I heard a couple of guys, who knew each other, talking about how “gay people are stupid.” I asked them “Why are gay people stupid?” and was hit with an onslaught of name-calling, rudeness, and accusations. This went on for over two hours while my roommate was playing his game. We also had a younger kid, I’m guessing between twelve and fifteen, join our battle group and he started right in with the other two guys. Eventually, the kid and I ended up on the same team without the other two and we were able to talk without their influence. At first he was still being rude, but soon he started asking questions and eventually quit being brash.
He even sent a friend request after we had logged off the game.
I thought this kind of behavior stopped years ago. I didn’t know that playing Xbox Live meant you were straight and couldn’t ever be anything else. I was apparently wrong.
For two hours I was asked rude questions and made fun of. I even tried to be serious and ask them why they thought such things, and I was told that “all gay people are the same” and that “gay people are just gay.”
On this campus we have a wonderful, but small group of people called the Adrian College Safeplace. The group meets every Thursday at 8:30pm in the skyboxes in Caine Student Center. At the moment, a plan is being put together to educate the faculty on being aware of homosexuality and how to deal with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) students, called the Ally Project. It is meant to teach them that they can make Adrian College a safe place for anyone, instead of just the straight majority. Safeplace, after educating the faculty, wants to reach out to students and help them feel safe or help them support other students on campus. The group holds meetings open to everyone who wishes to attend.
I’m just shocked by how many hurtful things can be said. If I didn’t have thick skin and people on campus I could really rely on, where would I be after an onslaught like that? I’m glad that there are so many accepting people on campus. But the world needs to be accepting, not just a small group of people.
Right now we are seeing those states that supported gay marriage revoke it. Even California, one of the most accepting states in the union, is proposing to revoke gay marriage. I don’t know what to think of this, but that my options and rights as a person are being taken away.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that people need to be accepting and not so quick to become defensive because of their insecurities, lack of knowledge, or preconceived notions about certain people.