I want to congratulate Cody Groeber (Letter to the Editor on Oct. 14) on identifying the key misconception in the debate concerning acceptance of gay and lesbian students on this campus. Indeed, we need to make a distinction between "the person and the act" and accept that one's "identity is bound up in much more than [one's] sexuality." However, I am afraid that Groeber ascribes this misconception to a wrong party in the discussion.
It is not the "gay activists" who tend to equal human beings and sexual activity over and over again. It is the people who claim that we cannot fight discriminatory atmosphere because it is hard to distinguish between a person and his or her "homosexual lifestyle."
What is a "homosexual lifestyle?" Are we talking about the passion of gay men for hamburgers, or about the inclination of lesbian couples to enjoy road trips during their vacation? No, the "homosexual lifestyle" is a reference to sexual intercourse between two people of same sex. Isn't this an attempt to equal a person with his or her sexuality? Would it not be more appropriate to accept gays and lesbians as human beings needing "to love and be loved" (a desire that everyone seems to agree on) and leave their private decisions about their sex life out of the arena of public scrutiny?
Do we discriminate against unmarried heterosexual couples because it is possible that in their private lives, they are breaking the rules of Catholic teachings? That would be absurd, wouldn't it? So why is it normal to do the same thing when it comes to gay men and lesbians?
Petra Dankova
senior
Pasquerilla West
Oct. 14
