Administration needs to open prejudiced eyes
Letter to the Editor
It is time the University of Notre Dame opened its prejudiced eyes. The Catholic Church is NOT against homosexuality. The Church encourages gays and lesbians to have gay and lesbian friendships. What the Church is against is any sex that is not for procreational purposes and takes place outside of marriage.
In the Church's eyes, the only acceptable form of sexual intercourse is between a married man and woman for the sake of creating a child. That being the case, there is absolutely no reason GALA shouldn't be allowed to advertise in The Observer.
Outreach ND/SMC should be an official organization recognized by the University, as GLND/SMC should have been. Why aren't they? Because people are always scared by things that differ from them and their ideas.
Groups like Outreach ND/SMC and GALA are designed to support gays and lesbians. That does not mean that they encourage casual sex or any sex. It simply means that they supply an environment that does not otherwise exist on or off campus. These groups are necessary because many members of the straight majority make them so.
These groups do not oppose any of the Church's teachings. Alienating an entire sector the student body by labeling who they are as wrong, however, does. The Catholic Church teaches acceptance and love, not conformity and alienation to those who don't conform.
I am straight. My sexuality is an intrinsic part of who I am but it does not define who I am. I do not have, nor do I wish to have, sex with every male I see. This is not by any stretch of the imagination, an outrageous claim. It doesn't even need to be said. The same shouldn't have to be said for any gay man or lesbian woman. Their sexuality is an intrinsic part of who they are but it does not define them. The term "homosexual" does not mean "practicing homosexual."
We are all made of the same basic "stuff." When you get down to it, you are no different from me or the person sitting next to you. Very few people today judge others who are of a different skin tone or religion than the majority as a lesser people. Why on Earth should sexuality make one bit of difference? The answer is: it doesn't. However, until the majority accepts this as common knowledge, groups like Outreach ND/SMC are necessary. As a Catholic institution, the University of Notre Dame should set an example of love and acceptance to a world that does not always accept people who differ from the majority.
Carrie C. Carrigan
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, September 3, 1999
