2008 Woodie Awards
Does homosexuality belong in an inclusive, Catholic community?
Should Saint Mary's evaluate Gay-Straight Alliance on campus?
Ka'iulani Kauahi, Geoffrey Meadows
Issue date: 10/24/06 Section: Opinion
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I gazed upon the rainbow-painted letters of SMC on the hill overlooking our campus and knew it was not the sign of the covenant, but of some obscure statement of "awareness" regarding homosexuality. The flyers around campus also caught my attention. They call all to recognize National Coming-Out Day.
I find it extremely puzzling that on a Catholic College campus such obvious blasphemies are permitted. In what way does the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) fulfill the Catholic, Lasallian, and Liberal Arts traditions of the school?
Properly understood, these traditions must necessarily be defined in terms of their intersection and not where they diverge, so anything meant to fulfill these three traditions cannot be contrary to any of them. I contend that the GSA does not fulfill and is indeed contrary to the first two traditions.
The GSA network describes its goals: "(1) [to] create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia and other oppressions, (2) educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues, and (3) fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools." The ambiguity of these goals is excruciating. For starters, homophobia is an ill-invented word because it would literally mean "an irrational fear of sameness," which is very different from fearing homosexuals. At any rate, an irrational fear of homosexuality is not an oppression of homosexuals, it is in the way such fears are manifested into acts that can be potentially oppressive but such acts do not necessarily arise out of this fear; and again, we do not need the GSA to tell us the nature of fear. I believe the second goal was covered during sex-education in middle school: "there are boys and girls; most people are attracted to the opposite sex, but some feel attraction to the same sex." The third goal is the most ambiguous of all. For instance, what sort of discrimination is being fought against? What sort of harassment or violence is ever acceptable?
Now we must venture into two of Saint Mary's College's traditions and the first is the Catholic tradition. The official church stance on homosexuality is patently clear: homosexual acts are sinful and contrary to the divine plan. Thus, homosexuality is a hindrance to salvation. Therefore, it would seem that a club legitimizing homosexuality would not be welcome on a Catholic campus. The GSA could, I suppose, argue that they are merely raising awareness and forming an alliance between homosexuals and heterosexuals to prevent persecution, but this hardly warrants a club devoted to such a cause. In fact, if one were to follow the Church's orthodoxy they would already, through being charitable, be able to distinguish between sinner and sin and would persecute the sin. A club of ambiguous intent would simply confuse matters.