Posted on 10/20/2002 7:59:00 AM PDT by chance33_98
Queer Radicals group to initiate change in campus climate, University policies
By LINDSAY MCGREGOR Princetonian Contributor
Virgilio Sklar '03 imagines a truly accepting University community, complete with a queer campus center, a queer studies department, active recruitment of homosexuals to campus and representation of homosexuals in admissions materials.
"The social makeup of the campus will not change unless we proactively validate all self-expressed identities and communities," Sklar said. "Without [pro-homosexual] policies, we will be accepting and imposing upon the students the norms of the majority and we will only be giving lip-service to diversity."
Driven by such visions, Sklar became a member of the Queer Radicals, a new unofficial organization with about 60 members formed at the beginning of the year as an alternative to the Pride Alliance. The group's goal is to create positive acknowledgement of its own and of other marginalized communities. It sets itself apart from such groups as the Pride Alliance, which they see as reactionary against preexisting negativity.
"I don't perceive [the group] as that radical," member Jessie Weber '05 said. "It is radical by Princeton standards, but I think it pushes for something that should be a norm: acceptance and respect for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities."
The group also seeks to challenge the mainstream ideas of sexuality, and rejects such words as "gay," "straight," and "lesbian," believing that they are too confining. Rather, the group uses the word "queer" to represent the fluidity and individuality of sexual identity.
The term queer "is not static," Sklar said. "It doesn't even mean the same thing to the same person every day."
"Queer" also includes the group's heterosexual members.
"To me queer is not just about sexual preference," said Lee Conderacci '04, a member of the Queer Radicals and a straight ally to the Pride Alliance. "It's about fluidity and being open and being able to make our own identity as an individual. We are independent of categories and notions put upon us by society."
The Queer Radicals declined to explain the group's origins or to specifically acknowledge any particular members as having had a strong role in its foundation. Most members have asked not to be identified.
"We don't want to associate the Queer Radicals with any one or two people because it's a group, a collective, and not the planning of any few people," Weber said.
The group lacks a traditional hierarchical structure and makes decisions based on consensus at its meetings to emphasize that no one's opinions take precedence over anyone else's.
The group is prepared to tackle "University policies and the campus climate," according to its mission statement. Members do not yet feel prepared to tackle "queerphobia" and other such issues on a larger scale.
The biggest and most immediate problem the group hopes to tackle is heterosexism — the assumption of heterosexuality — members said. The issue manifests itself in often-overlooked ways, such as when a girl asks her roommate if she met any interesting guys at the 'Street.' Weber also pointed to the freshman orientation program "Sex on a Saturday Night," which portrayed four heterosexual couples and no homosexual couples in its skit.
"A heterosexist environment on campus gives a green light to acts of homophobia and hatred," said Weber.
The Queer Radicals held their first event, a Kiss-In, to combat heterosexism Tuesday of last week. The event was meant as an affirmation of the queer community's presence on campus and of queers' refusal to hide their sexuality from the public.
"A lot of people say they're okay with gay people, but the Kiss-In pushed people's comfort level," said Weber. "Heterosexism needed to be challenged, and the Kiss-In challenged that. People needed to reexamine — why do I feel uncomfortable about this?"
The group's mission statement also emphasizes a desire to reach out to all minority populations. The group also hopes to gather support from other traditionally oppressed minority groups in mutually beneficial relationships.
Overall, the group stresses the importance of introducing the concept of queer to the campus. Their immediate goal is to promote discussion about the variances of sexual identity encompassed by the community.
"We don't have an antagonistic message," Weber said. "We want to spread the message that the queer community exists, that we will be treated with respect and that the queer community is a part of the campus culture."
You can start here.
"Queer" also includes the group's heterosexual members.
"Words mean whatever I say they mean," said Humpty Dumpty.
This is what I want in terms of a college education: no word means anything -- and by the way, you should be having wild sex all the time!
This sort of education will help the kids get those good jobs in the future.
Winner, Bronze Medal, PC-Talk Olympics!
I bet the administration would have the tear gas flying before the first prayer was completed.
Translation: 20-30 geeky, alienated kids wanted some attention. One of their group works for the student paper. The editor liked the catchy headline.
This the new model. It is no longer enough that you accept and respect the minority of the population that is homosexual - or queer or whatever the term du jour is now. Now you must vocalize approval of each & every queer group or individual's lifestyle, and to fail to do so is discriminatory and hateful.
Why, I agree. So let's ban wedding rings, portraits of spouses on office desks, necking in parks, and coupling in back seats of automobiles. After all, why should the rest of us have to watch such evidence of sexuality?
{/sarcasm OFF}
"Queer" also includes the group's heterosexual members.
Oh, I get it. The new sexual revolution is no longer about homosexuality, per se, but about all forms of sexuality based upon the subjective "feelings" of various people who share an interest in sex.
In other words, the term "queer" is simply another egalitarian and collectivist term to describe anyone who's interested in sexual liberation. It can mean anything to anyone at any time.
Which begs the question, I think: After all, if being "queer" can't be defined - if there aren't any attributes that define self-styled "queers" - how is it that they know that they're... "queer?"
Someone should ask this idiot if he's "queer" and how he knows he's queer. He denies that there's anything to be defined, but he seems perfectly willing to define himself as being part of a group... without an identity.
How about "pooftah" and "dyke"? They may well be "confining", but at least they're more precise than "gay".
The latter was a fine word before having been hijacked by the faggots.
Or at least the homo-Nazis will insist it is, trying to make a hell of your life, if you don't obey.
The Left, faggots or not faggots, had embraced this bunch of perverts and use them as their Trojan horse in order to press upon the society certain totalitarian attitudes.
Institutionalized Heterosexism in Our Schools: A Guide to Understanding and Undoing It
From Denial to Denigration: Understanding Institutionalized Heterosexism in Our Schools
"... When describing incidents of discrimination or harassment against LGBT people, then, it may be more precise to use the terms anti-LGBT bias or hate acts. And when discussing the belief, held by so many, that homosexuality is "wrong" or "less than," it may be more accurate to use heterosexism, which can be understood as an overt or tacit bias against non-heterosexuals based on a belief in the superiority or, sometimes, the omnipresence of heterosexuality(2) and the notion that homosexuality is psychologically, spiritually, or morally wrong. Since this type of intolerance is frequently leveled against those perceived to be lesbian or gay due to gender expression that transgresses societal norms, heterosexism can also be understood as the assumption that a dual gender role system based on birth-assigned sex is natural and desirable. Heterosexism--though not a replacement for homophobia--is a broader term that does not imply the loathing the latter term suggests, and which can describe seemingly benign attitudes and behavior based on the belief that heterosexuality and a binary gender structure are the norm.(3)
... Institutionalized heterosexism exists at every level of society--from family roles to federal policy--and works to transmit inflexible cultural norms to a populace that unconsciously integrates them. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy, for example, excludes all gay men who have "engaged in any homosexual behavior since 1977" from giving blood(11) and the community instinctively assumes that such guidelines are in our best interest. Religious doctrine instructs followers to "love the sinner, but hate the sin" and flocks of parishioners unquestioningly accept that homosexuality is inherently depraved. Pentagon policy(12) assures us that not asking or telling is the best way to deal with our LGBT service members and the public takes for granted that silence is golden..."
This is not simply an agenda of some "Queer Radical" group out on the fringe. GLSEN is a "mainstream" homosexual group that espouses "queer is normal" propaganda to K-12 children in the public schools on a daily basis. Make no mistake, this is a well planned, well financed campaign and it begins with elementary school children.
Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child
Assemblyman MOUNTJOY opposes promotion of homosexuality in public schools
In other words it is about being experimental and creative in becoming decadent. Like in the post-republican Rome.
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