I love Illini Hockey. Great sport. Great team. Great fans. Who else researches the opponents so that insults can be tailored to the target? I used to be an athlete. I understand that jeers are part of the game. But one recurring chant should not be part of the game: singing the YMCA as “Why are you gay?”
I love Illini Hockey. Great sport. Great team. Great fans.
Who else researches the opponents so that insults can be tailored to the target? I used to be an athlete. I understand that jeers are part of the game. But one recurring chant should not be part of the game: singing the YMCA as “Why are you gay?”
As if the Village People weren’t offensive enough, anyone who has a problem with gay-bashing becomes a victim. I know what you’re going to say: 1) “We don’t intend to hurt their feelings, and it’s not our job to protect the ultra-sensitive;” and 2) “What’s the problem with gay-bashing?”
As to the first: Think about the message you’re sending. Until Webster says otherwise, it represents hatred and discrimination. I agree that it’d be silly to change every time someone took offense, but look at the big picture. As long as gays are targets for violence just for being gay, can’t we justify a little sensitivity? Is your unwillingness to bend really about frustration with over-done political correctness, or is it really an excuse to unleash some anti-gay sentiment without admitting you’re a bigot?
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Second, your children will be ashamed of you. We’re in the middle of a big change. Generations from now, parts of the country may teach their children about the (Political) War of Homo Aggression. The majority will see it more like the Civil War: a period of drastic change to right a dreadful wrong.
I won’t say that you’ll lack company. After all, 40 percent of the voters in Alabama would prohibit inter-racial marriage (see the 2000 vote to remove its anti-miscegenation law). But Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. I’d like to think we still condemn discrimination.
Mark Reddish,
graduate student
