Prayers for Romney

It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that the first amendment grants a freedom of religion that was once unparalleled by the former rulers of the American colonies. That being said, the ideal has not lived up to its full potential. The United States remains a “nation under God” in which politicians, both left and right, swear to uphold the words of God while executing quotidian affairs. This system’s inherent flaw rests in the assumption that all of America is God-fearing. Oaths are taken by our nation’s professionals to evoke a sense of commitment to a duty by making a deal with divinity. For example, the Hippocratic Oath requires new physicians to swear to uphold certain values of medicine. The tradition is rooted in a Greek ceremony that highlighted the importance of divine influence on professionals. Ironically, Bill Maher’s satirical documentary, Religulous, indicates that an overwhelming majority of contemporary physicians and scientists identifies as atheist or agnostic. It seems as if the first amendment should include an asterisk with a footnoted clause that reads, “so long as that religion is theistic”.

The current political spectrum conveys varying attitudes towards religion. Since the right wing tends to uphold more fundamentalist, biblically rooted values, God is often exploited as a weapon in the argument for a conservative cause. As the presidential election approaches, my LGBTQ peers have expressed outrage towards Romney’s adamant plans for same-sex couples indicating that a vote for Romney, though arguably economically appealing (not necessarily my own opinion), is a sacrifice of civil rights, especially for the LGBTQ community. Right wing extremism has resolved that God’s word shall prevail over the civil rights struggle of the homosexual community seeking same-sex marriage rights because of certain biblical passages. 16% of Americans (millions of people, myself included) do not identify with religion, so why is God an acceptable source in the argument for civil rights? The scientific community only values evidence-based claims, and the fact of the matter is that evidence has eternally degraded faith. After all, you wouldn’t use Harry Potter to support a political argument. What makes the Bible different? I just hope that American lawmakers and politicians will keep in mind that freedom OF religion should also entail freedom FROM religion.

Course Offering

[Hey Everyone. There is a great course being offered next semester by our very own Steven Petrow.  A Duke alum and local resident, Petrow is a strong advocate for Duke LGBT community. Check out the course description below.] 

Offered for the first time:

LGBT Lives: Telling Stories A documentary writing seminar on

the evolving gay and lesbian family

Led by Steven Petrow, past president of the National Lesbian & Gay

Journalists Association, columnist to The New York Times and The Huffington

Post, and acclaimed author.

Documentary writing course exploring the intersection of documentary writing

and community service, with a focus on LGBT families in NC. Students,

whether gay or straight, will connect their classroom work with a

documentary fieldwork project to produce a semester-long project relying on

documentary research, interviews, and personal experience. The instructor

will work closely with students to assist with publication opportunities in

local, state, and national media.

Anonymous Posts (10.22.12-10.28.12)

Every week, we collect anonymous entries sent in using the link on our sidebar and post them all on Monday. We post anything as long as it doesn't contain personal attacks, hate speech, or express or insinuate that one is at risk for hurting themselves or someone else. Please read this for an explanation of this policy and seek help if your or a friend find yourself in that position. With those exceptions aside, please feel free to submit your thoughts and questions. :)

Hey y'all,

I'm afraid we don't have any new posts for you today. If you haven't gone out to vote yet, do try to make it to the polls soon. The voting is in the Old Trinity Room in the West Union. Democracy can't work if we don't vote!


Please remember that there are a number of resources available on campus and in the local community. These resources are available over breaks and throughout the school year. If you or a friend are experiencing thoughts or urges to harm yourself or somebody else, please reach out to the following resources: In an emergency, please don't hesitate to call CAPS at any time, including "after hours" at (919) 966-3820. Ask to speak to the advice nurse and tell them you are a Duke student. You may also call the Trevor Project, a national hotline specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning youth (college students included). Their number is 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386).

ATL Pride

For fall break some of my friends and I ventured to Atlanta, Georgia for Pride. It was probably one of the most enjoyable weekends of my entire life. I must admit I expected Atlanta to be homophobic and backward, but instead I was greeted by a lively community, wonderful allies, and friendly people. It was the first pride I’ve ever been to, since the Triangle pride parade always takes place while I’m warming up with DUMB for the football game on Saturday.

I know a lot of people take issue with pride and pride parades. Their reasoning is sound – why should we take pride in something if we believe it isn’t a choice; if it’s biologically predetermined? They argue that pride festivals exhibit the very worst of the gay community – the femininity, the promiscuity, and the alcoholism. I understand why one might think those things – I would have agreed with some of them in the not-so distant past, but now I realize that very little of those arguments hold any water. Sure, pride parades may be displays of “nontraditional” behavior – men in dresses, women in trousers, and everything in between, but I don’t see why that’s anything to be scared of. Instead of judging, we should be applauding our peers for being brave – for being themselves - regardless of whether we choose to emulate them.

In response to allegations that pride parades are merely one, decentralized orgy, I offer this: saying that LGBT people are promiscuous, bar none, is a vast overgeneralization; promiscuity occurs regardless of sexual orientation. One need not look any further than Shooters on a typical night to realize this. The belief that LGBT people hook up more than their straight conspecifics is outdated. Various societal disparities between people of LGBT-status and our straight peers are at work, like oh, I dunno, how about the fact that we’re not allowed to get married and form legally recognized monogamous relationships? It is not far fetched to make the connection between the marginalization of the LGBT community and drug and alcohol use, which are used to escape, however temporarily, from our oppression. (As I noted in my last post, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with hooking up, as long as it’s mutually consensual, so no hate on those who choose not to participate in monogamy.)

This post wasn’t supposed to turn into a social commentary, so sorry for that. I don’t mean to get all preachy.  In sum, pride parades are not simply spectacles for drag queens and dykes, though they are a welcome and much loved part of our community; no, there are also families of all kinds, allies, LGBT-affiliated churches, and parents of LGBT people, all coming together in support of the LGBT community to take pride in who they are and what they believe.

TL;DR: ATL pride is fun, go next year. 

A More Civil Union

“If you voted for Amendment One, then fuck you.”

Strong words indeed. This was a Facebook status a friend of mine posted shortly after May 8 this year, when Amendment One was passed, defining marriage in North Carolina as exclusively between a one woman and one man. It was a disheartening moment for the LGBT community, not simply because the measure passed, but because it passed with an emphatic 61 percent vote. In times like these, it is very easy to have an image of gay rights foes as faceless, overzealous bigots with no regard for human dignity. Hence the Facebook status above. But the truth is that these people are in fact not soul-sucking demons.

What I am saying may seem trite, but consider this. I originally come from Houston, Texas. Without getting into specifics, the culture I grew up around generally treated homosexuality as a foreign and off-putting concept (my last post somewhat briefly mentions this topic). Texas law forbids same-sex marriage. But from being around these folks my whole life, I know that for the most part, they are not hateful. Rather, their attitude towards the LGBT community stems from a fundamental lack of understanding, which leads to their overblown fears of the consequences of same-sex marriage. I believe that the same can be said about the average person who

One might reckon that this failure on behalf of gay rights detractors warrants our resentment, shown above in its extreme form. But having such feelings is not constructive, as it does not solve the main problem of a deficiency in familiarity. The only way to overcome such a huge deficit is through education. We see this more and more as homosexuality becomes a more recognized aspect of our society, which has resulted in increased support of gay marriage nationwide. So let us not distance ourselves from our opposition but instead embrace them, because only through mutual understanding can we expect to help them appreciate the true challenges that the LGBT community faces.

The issue of gay rights is one that I unequivocally support, but I try not to judge or disdain those who do not see eye-to-eye with me. With the election coming in less than two weeks during a time when the country is more divided than ever in recent history, I think it’s important for everyone to know a positive, effective method of civil discourse. Be proud of who you are and of your viewpoints, but have an ounce of respect and empathy for those who disagree with you if you ever want them to treat you the same way.

Mixed Massages

Let’s get something straight. Just because I gave you a friendly back rub does not mean that I am hitting on you. Consider the context for a moment. We’re eating out (at a restaurant) and I’m going around the table touching everyone, because we’re a touchy bunch touching each other and that’s okay. Well, except for you. And I respect your personal bubble and I’ll keep that in mind now, but hold on a moment my man - you thought I was hitting on you. I hate to burst your bubble but…

I am not bursting your personal bubble with the intent of popping your cherry. You’re a plenty handsome guy, but I am not trying to proposition you at all. There is a difference between showing affection and conveying that I fancy you.

You and I are both guys, and that’s why there’s that tension. While this does not apply to all males, it certainly seems like many guys are particularly afraid of the physical contact and proximity with guys who seem as if they may be gay. Why? Fear and pride – these two things drive all the problems in our relationships with people. Fear: it is the manifestation of ignorance, a lack of understanding. Many LGBT individuals are perfectly normal in their thoughts and feelings, yet the LGBT community is stereotyped as promiscuous and sexually deviant. By no means is this the norm, so understand that in the end we are all humans, not threats. Pride: don’t be so quick to think that someone is into you. Not every gay guy automatically fancies you, so don’t assume that. You’re not good looking enough for that and even if you were, your homophobia makes you uglier in my mind, I'm sorry to say.

I feel like there’s a sort of macho thing going on here that makes guys throw up the defenses a lot more strongly. Luckily, I don't hear "no homo" at Duke that often. Can someone comment on the extent to which this kind of thing might be true for females?  

So man up and tell me if I’m making you uncomfortable. But before you do that, think about why you’re uncomfortable.