What will you do when our administration decides that your difference makes you a threat? What will you do when you are told that you are sick, evil, perverted and dangerous? What will you do when they won’t let you into the School of Education because you would harm children? When you can’t get into COM or SFA or CAS or anywhere else because your life is corrupt and you must not be allowed to express yourself? When your most brilliant professor gets fired for an “unprofessional lifestyle”? When your life becomes a housing violation? BU Spectrum has been working to gain freedom from discrimination for people at Boston University who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered through the inclusion of sexual orientation in BU’s nondiscrimination clause. Through its nondiscrimination clause, BU tells us: “If your’re black, we respect you. If you’re a woman, we value you. If you’re from India, if you’re Buddhist or if you have muscular dystrophy, we affirm you. But if the funny, brilliant, caring, wonderful person that you love is the same sex as you, just hope that you don’t get harassed, because you’re on your own.” We want to change this.
Adding a sexual orientation clause would mean that if people at BU were harassed, threatened or persecuted because of who they are and who they love, they could find protection and justice. So far, the BU administration has refused to give that safety. Their explanation ranges from saying that adding sexual orientation to the clause would be overkill, to saying that it would support sex with animals.
The issue of nondiscrimination is larger than the question of services. It is possible that a student at BU could find justice without the change to the clause. But it is also entirely possible that she or he could not, especially given the comments of the administration. Adding sexual orientation would give the people of the BU community who are gay, lesbian, transgendered or bisexual the same human dignity given to those people who, like most of you, are protected by BU from discrimination.
The Student Union fully supports the inclusion of sexual orientation in the BU nondiscrimination clause. We encourage you to come to the meeting held by Spectrum tonight at 7 p.m. in Photonics 206 to educate yourself about changing this injustice. Come for yourself, your friends and your family.
Boston University Student Union Jennifer Sutherland, President CAS ’01 Marshalee Ducille, Executive Vice President CAS ’02 Patrick Donovan, V.P. of Safety Services, SED ’01 Dan Feder, V.P. of Public Relations UNI ’02 Whitney Beauregard, V.P. of Academic Affairs UNI ’03 Lydia Longoria, V.P. of Multicultural Affairs CAS ’02 Adam Lacroix, V.P. of Financial Affairs CAS ’01 Mark Greenfield, V.P. of Residence Life CAS ’01 Josh DuBois, V.P. of Student Affairs CAS ’03
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