Otterbein’s LGBTQIA+ awareness week just came to a close this evening, culminating in the university's version of the national Day of Silence last evening at 5pm. Despite the schools racial demographics, the high rate of sexual and gender diversity felt on campus made for a week full of celebration of the student body’s uniqueness, inclusiveness, and some somber remembrance for those who have lost their lives because they didn't feel they had the ability to speak out about something as defining as whom they loved. Yet the welcoming environment of Otterbein is not viewed positively, or evenly passively, by all across the nation.
“if Jesus Christ were to show up tommorow [misspelled] on the Otterbein campus, he’d be shunned and denounced as a hatemonger.”
This quotation comes from an author of little repute, a clearly homophobic blogger writing for a website called The Other McCain.
The featured excerpt is one of the tamest in the article, which goes on to call out specifically Tammy Birk of the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program, and numerous female department heads, before finally turning its righteous gaze towards local sorority Kappa Phi Omega (Kappa), which is referred to affectionately as, “The Lesbian Sorority, so that if a freshman dyke at Otterbein is looking for a place where she will be welcomed into the sapphic sisterhood, Kappa house is it.”
The author would even go on to feature as an example of the university’s, and specifically Kappa’s, perversion, the marriage of two Kappa alumnae, Felicity and Alanna Fenton-Esquinas.
The writer for The Other McCain doesn't stop to simply say the marriage took place however, but instead uses photographs and quotations pulled from Felicity and Alanna's wedding documents without their permission to discuss the story, much like he uses quotations pulled from Birk to describe the WGSS program.
At the moment Felicity and Alanna, proud new mothers, are refraining from seeking legal action. Although it has not been confirmed that the photographs were used illegally, only that the two women were unaware of their use.
However, this leads into a possibly more interesting question: outside of potentially using the wedding photos and quotations without their source’s permission, did the author of the article actually do anything wrong?
As difficult as it can often be to remember when faced with such hate, the right to free speech is protected under the first amendment. People are not only allowed to have these opinions, as hurtful as they might be, but they are also allowed to voice them, publicly. And, to limit someone’s self-expression in this context, to effectively censor them, is not much different from what members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies have been fighting against every day, with this past week being just a condensed version.
In truth the editorial staff at Otterbein 360 strongly considered not publicizing this strange and sad radical who decided to point their sights toward Otterbein. It was feared that by featuring the article (which was published back in October) we would simply help spread this destructive, and false message when it could otherwise go unnoticed by more reasonable, and compassionate citizens.
But at the end of the day, Otterbein360 is here to spark conversations and encourage discourse. Sometimes we must sift through the unpalatable and find what in it needs to be said, because sometimes, in order to talk about things that are wonderful, you need to first discuss what is horrible. To truly celebrate that we now live in a time and place where the majority of students are outraged at the opinions in The Other McCain’s article, instead of agreeing with them like they might have 30 years ago, we need to be reminded that those opinions are still out there.
So as LGBTQIA+ awareness week comes to a close, remember this author, remember Felicty and Alanna, and instead of shrinking away from hateful conversations, talk about them, and remember them.
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