The Weekly Sassy Lesbian Column “Homecoming Out: When School Pride Also Involves School Shame”
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The Vol. XCVII. NO. 4 To nd out the truth about ou’wester the Bellingrath ghost... SOctober 26, 2011 e Biweekly Student Newspaper of Rhodes College See Page 3 The weekly sassy lesbian column “Homecoming out: when school pride also involves school shame” Rin Abernathy Staff Writer Maybe I’m too sensitive, but when I go to an event made for the promotion of school spirit, I want to spend some time free from gay slurs. is past weekend, we saw the revival of the Homecoming parade. ere were many fantastic fl oats in attendance with all manner of decora- tion: President Troutt’s face, dolphins, a condom going through a fi eld goal. Everyone seemed genuinely excited. We waved at alumni and tossed candy to the kids and had a gay ol’ time on the VOX-GSA fl oat (oh yes, we were “homecoming out”). Despite the occasional fear of For a re-cap of the rst Homecoming parade in 20 years, check out page 5 falling over in the trailer, I had no complaints about the parade itself. e complaints come post-parade. We had started dismantling our trailer when another An intriguing interview with Dan Savage fl oat parked beside us. Like most fl oats, this fraternity’s fl oat had been blasting the radio. Apparently the mu- Erica Morozin sic wasn’t to their liking, as one of the men yelled out, Layout Editor “ is song is so gay,” followed by, “ is song sucks dick.” EM: What exactly are your aims as a journalist in do- DS: Ohio State University, Auburn, Cornell, and at’s quite the choice of words, considering you’re park- ing this? University of Illinois of Chicago so far. So, we are trying ing right next to the Gay-Straight Alliance fl oat. DS: Well, a lot of journalists would be very upset to to hit all diff erent kind of schools. I came to Rhodes last I don’t believe that this word choice had anything to hear you call me a journalist. I’m a columnist and a sex year and when MTV and the other producers of the show do with the fact that they were parked next to many vis- writer. What I want to do is bring the same conversation asked me to do it, they asked me for a list of schools that I ibly out queer students and campus leaders. What I fi nd I have been having in Savage Love for years to television, would want to go to. After my visit in March, Rhodes was insulting, and what makes me sometimes ashamed of my which is embracing of all diff erent kinds of orientation, on the top of the list, and was actually the only college I school, is that my supposed peers would not even think sexual practices, and interests and pursuits. requested that managed to get into the tour. MTV did not twice about saying that. I’ve met a lot of people who ar- But also, what I did with Savage Love from the outside pick Rhodes; I picked Rhodes. gue that, when they say “gay,” they mean it’s gay in a gay was try to write a sex column where people got to use the EM: What made you choose Rhodes? way, not gay in the homosexual way. Right. language they actually use when they talk about sex with DS: e feeling I got doing the speech last year about I don’t know that you “don’t mean it” or “don’t really their friends and the attitude and the posture they use. the It Gets Better project. And that included a little bit of think that” unless I know you really well. An unknown When people talk about sex with their friends even if the Q & A that was more Savage Lovey because we opened it Rhodes male, riding on a truck, parking next to the conversation gets really serious, there is still this lightness up to anything. I just had a sense that it would work well GSA-VOX fl oat, using a gay slur: what part of this situa- to it, a sense of humor about sex that is rarely present in here—Savage Love Live—which is basically what I am do- tion is funny? Language like this subtly (but eff ectively) TV. Sex is either titillation or a problem, and it is never a ing at these college events. makes Rhodes an inhospitable place for LGBT students. little bit of both like it is in our real lives. Also, it is so ascetically gorgeous. It was easy when ere are a lot of ways we fi ght back and make it hospi- So what I want to do and what MTV wants to do— they began rattling off schools—they were rattling off table. Some of these are Safe Zones, GSA, the Counsel- which is gratifying—is nothing that I haven’t already been schools of 40,000 and 50,000. ey wanted to represent ing Center, the Offi ce of Multicultural Aff airs, and, last doing. I know there has been some concern at Rhodes that all types of campuses and this being an under-2,000 un- but not least, the students at Rhodes who choose not to we were coming to do something crazy and Jackass-like. dergrad school, I thought it was a really good representa- use language that can make strangers in the fl oat next to EM: People were worried about the whole Real World, tive example of that kind of campus, of a small school. them feel unsafe. Laguna Beach type MTV. EM: Have you had a problem with anybody coming ere is, however, perhaps another, more eff ective DS: I couldn’t do that. I am a mid-40’s, old homo who forward and be willing to talk? Rhodes is such a small way to counter this language. Today, I encourage you writes sex advice column. If you want to do that type of school. People seem to know who is sleeping with whom. not to say that something stupid is “gay.” Instead, please show, you would not get me to host it. I have no credibility DS: at is one of the things that everyone wants to say that something stupid is so “homophobic moron.” in Jackass Land. We want to something that is basically my talk about. It has been a little more diffi cult here getting One might say that we’re not being diverse if we kick out column. If you like my column, then you would like the folks who want to talk about an issue of their life on cam- the homophobic students, but this is one area where I’ll show. I wish I could show everyone at Rhodes the pilot, era. Luckily, we won’t be on the air until close to the end let diversity slide. but I can’t. It’s that same sense of humor and wonder but of next year, and then it takes twelve weeks to roll it out. also constructive and respect that the column is about. Most people we are talking to are seniors. By the time the Visit http://www.rhodesorgs.whsites.net/Souwester/ EM: So what other schools have you gone to? Savage, continued on Page 4 to read this column during non-printing weeks! Page 2 Opinion Wednesday, October 26, 2011 The “William Bayley, Do You Want to Say Sou’wester Editor-In-Chief Anything to Me?” Jasmine Gilstrap Layout Editor Adiha Khan can’t see the glass. The light shining through the cracks, the transpar- Erica Morozin Staff Writer ent solid begging to be broken. If anyone could look inside, the things they’d see, he thinks to himself. He fumbles with the vial as it rolls Copy Editors “William Bayley, do you want to say anything to me?” I speak around the table. He allows it to roll off the table edge, into his hand. Xany Moore into the asbestos laden air. Noises ensue, like scratching. And a puff of Closing his fingers around it, he makes a fist. The ridges in the cap Hannah Gysin breath-like air into my right ear. It’s sharp, making my eardrum pop. made indentations in his palm. As he studies the lines it made, he pops Anne and Alex resolve that this would be a good time to leave. But the it open, picturing it to be coke to make it easier. He puts it to his lips Opinion Editor fun has just started. I’m not any Zak Bagans, so I decide that it is best and says a prayer. Rekha Blackerby to not stay in the haunted dark alone. I return to the lower floors of William Bayley committed suicide in his dorm room on the third Bellingrath with them, where the living reside. The moment the door floor of Bellingrath Hall in 1970 after being drafted into the army for News Editor to the fourth floor of Bellingrath locks be- the Vietnam War. He reportedly drank some Alex Yu hind us, I check my phone. A flashing sign type of poison. It is widely believed that his is blinking on the screen: “Use Genuine ghost haunts the third and fourth floors of Bell- A&E Editor Battery. Powering Down.” It stays that way, ingrath. Bill Short, coordinator of public servic- Shelby Lund until it returns to life, fully charged some es for the library, told me the story of a female minutes later.