To the editor:
Finally, an opinion from Staff Columnist Joe Braun I can agree with.
I have said all along that gays and lesbians should be as quiet about their sexuality as straights. Perhaps, if we were as quiet as straights, then maybe they would treat us really nice and not deny us the same rights that they have.
Look around - straights don't worry about losing their jobs, being kicked out of school or the armed forces, being denied insurance or losing their children because of whom they love. They don't worry about all of these things because they keep nice and quiet about their sexuality.
In fact, I have never had heterosexual sex shoved down my throat. I have never witnessed establishments with signs that say "Girls, Girls, Girls, Nude, Nude Nude." I have never witnessed heterosexual innuendoes selling beer, cars, clothes or anything else on the mass market. I have never viewed or heard of any heterosexual sexual images, descriptions or depictions use on TV, in the movies, in magazines, in music, in literature or plastered on billboards.
I was so surprised and astonished that heterosexuals have sex that I had to ask a straight friend if it was true. I had to agree not to reveal her name before she would talk about the hidden truth and affirm that straights do indeed have sex. Who would have thought it? Until Braun's column, I was sure that us queers were the only ones doing it.
I thought that the only reason I had to be afraid of holding my partner's hand, of giving her a hug or a little kiss in public was because straights thought affection was bad. I, of course, developed this opinion because I never witnessed straight people doing the same things in public. I never before realized that the reason they hated us so much was because we are both women. I guess I'm really misguided by this whole sex/affection thing.
I want to thank Braun for enlightening me to a whole world that I didn't know existed. But everyone knows what happens to some women without an intelligent, observant, rational man like Braun to instruct them. We do really disgusting things like fall in love, build homes, raise children, work at jobs, pay bills and, when we are somewhere where no one can see, we actually touch each other in an affectionate and sexual manner.
Oh, but there I go again, forgetting to follow the heterosexual patriarchal guide of silence and talking about sex and affection where someone might hear.
Gina Rose
English senior
©Copyright 1995, Kernel Press Inc. All rights reserved.