Viewpoint Intolerance creates climate of
violence
By FRANCIS DeBERNARDO
People across the nation expressed
anguish and sympathy when they heard the news of the brutal murder of Matthew
Shepard, the 21-year-old gay college student who was beaten, lashed to a
fencepost and left for dead in Laramie, Wyo.
The outpouring of emotion was not solely because of the grisly
details of the crime, but also because Matthew Shepard was a young man with
whom many could identify. He was the gay son or gay brother or gay friend that
many people have come to know as more gay and lesbian people make themselves
visible in our church and society.
Increasingly, people are coming to realize that hate-motivated
attacks against gay and lesbian people are not about some unknown
other, but against people they care for and love.
It is also important to understand, on the other hand, that
Matthews attackers are not monsters, as some commentators have tried to
portray them. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson are probably more like the
boys next door than we care to admit. To portray them as monsters keeps us safe
from the vicious hatred they exhibited. It allows us to deny that the kind of
hatred that led to the Wyoming attack exists in our own backyards.
Unfortunately, it does.
This past summer, New Ways Ministry, a national Catholic ministry
group of justice and reconciliation for gay and lesbian Catholics and the wider
church community, distributed a survey to Catholic colleges and universities
across the nation.
We tried to identify attitudes, policies, activities and programs
regarding gay and lesbian students and issues.
The survey and its analysis are not yet complete, but one
preliminary statistic gives us pause as we continue to ponder the violent
actions of the two young men in Wyoming.
Close to 60 percent of the colleges that responded to the survey
answered yes to the question, In the past three years, has there been any
instance of harassment or violence against an individual believed to be lesbian
or gay?
That means that a gay or lesbian student, faculty member or staff
person would be subject to some form of harassment or abuse on three-fifths of
Catholic college campuses. Because only one of the incidents reported in the
survey involved physical attack, it may seem that the level of violence is not
very significant. However, verbal attacks, vandalism and the promotion of
anti-gay messages in writing were reported as frequent occurrences.
Violence, as the U.S. bishops pointed out in their 1994 pastoral
statement, Confronting a Culture of Violence, can exist on many
levels, not just the graphic and bloody. They describe a slow-motion
violence of discrimination, which, the bishops say, can be just as
harmful: Not all violence is deadly. It begins with anger, intolerance,
impatience, unfair judgments and aggression. It is often reflected in our
language, our entertainment, our driving, our competitive behavior and the way
we treat our environment. These acts and attitudes are not the same as abusive
behavior or physical attacks, but they create a climate where violence prospers
and peace suffers.
That climate of violence toward gay and lesbian people is alive on
a large number of Catholic campuses. What a tragedy it would be if students
wearing jackets and sweatshirts bearing Catholic school names come to symbolize
the violent actions in Wyoming. Left unchecked, the violence simmering below
the surface in attitudes could easily explode given an unfortunate mix of
circumstances.
The good news is that some of the campuses have begun outreach and
support programs for gay/lesbian students. These programs offer hope that
attitudes of violence will not overrun our campuses. Many include educational
components to teach the entire campus community about gay and lesbian reality,
helping to dispel myths, stereotypes, and, most important, fear.
Perhaps the most violent myth being propounded today is that gay
and lesbian people do not exist. Recent advertisements in national newspapers
offering so-called reorientation therapy base their claims on the
notion that everyone is heterosexually oriented, a claim roundly rejected by
science and religion.
These ads, which will soon be aired in video form on local
stations around the country, have the same outcome as a hate crime: They aim at
denying the existence of a group of people. Though they are compassionate in
tone, they are violent in their aims.
The U.S. bishops will be meeting in Washington Nov. 15-19. They
can begin to implement their teaching on slow-motion violence by
denouncing soundly the messages of these advertisements. In the 1997 pastoral
statement Always Our Children, they have already pointed out that
reparative therapy is to be evaluated with great caution.
The message of these advertisements holds potential for such great
harm that the bishops should speak forcefully to expose the lies inherent in
them, lies that will lead to further violence. While the public interest is
high, the bishops have a window of opportunity to build on their 1994 statement
on violence and their previous condemnations of prejudice against gay and
lesbian people. They can make a credible and powerful contribution to this
important national discussion on combating hate crimes.
The future Matthew Shepards, Aaron McKinneys and Russell
Hendersons who now walk on Catholic campuses need the bishops voice.
Francis DeBernardo is executive director of New Ways
Ministry.
National Catholic Reporter, November 13,
1998
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