By
Opposition for LGBT community noticeably absent at PINK 2005Given the free-flowing venom and vitriol we at The Cardinal are soaked with every time we report on lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender events or issues, we have every reason to expect that this week’s coverage of PINK 2005 will bring in some nasty feedback. To our critics: please, don’t hold back.
Fact is, we love this kind of criticism. Almost nobody goes out of their way to send in letters of praise to a small, weekly newspaper, so if negative feedback is all that can be expected, then the more, the better. It’s often the only sign we get that anybody is paying any attention. We may even get a contributed column from some disgusted student or accountancy professor railing against the evils of all things gay, which we will happily run because copy submitted is copy we don’t have to write. But despite our love for negative attention, in the case of national-scope issues like gay rights and societal approval of same, it’s all horribly misdirected. If certain students, faculty members or groups on campus take exception with the activities of the LGBT community here at U of L, they should put the word on the streets — or at least on the concrete slab in front of the Red Barn. There were no critics, detractors, protestors, picketers, bashers or hecklers at PINK 2005. Nobody came out with posterboard signs with bible verses painted on them damning homosexuality. Dozens upon dozens of students walked right into the Red Barn Friday evening without being handed pamphlets decrying the insidious “gay agenda.” No anti-gay commentary was included for “balance” in this week’s PINK article because nobody was there to offer any. Apparently, LGBT haters and the like can shoot off e-mails and check the “Yes” box on an amendment ballot, but when it comes to actually doing something along the lines of active opposition to what they see as a great cultural malaise that is destroying our society, they’d rather stay home. Perhaps they’ll take the time to compose scornful missives to us for giving ink to drag shows, but if this is all they can come up with to counter the sizeable and active LGBT presence on campus, they may as well concede defeat and prepare for the imminent demise of the American family. And, from where we sit, the fact remains: if anybody wants to hold a community forum, formal debate, tent revival or neo-conservative caucus on or near campus to publicly air opposition to the LGBT movement, The Cardinal would be happy — indeed, duty-bound — to give it all due attention. Until then, readers who consider The Cardinal a tool of the “gay agenda” should feel free to register their ire via e-mail. But let it be known: we can’t offer balanced reporting on views not expressed. Be active or be ignored.
