STUDENT GOVERNMENT PANEL FOCUSES ON
HOMOPHOBIA AND HATE CRIMES
On April 13, the Notre Dame Student Government Gender Issues Committee sponsored an on-campus panel that focused on homophobia and hate crimes. The panel was part of StaND against Hate Week, which was organized by Notre Dame’s Student Government, the Core Council for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Questioning Students, and the Gender Relations Center. About 125 people attended the April 13 event, which was held in the Hesburgh Library.
GALA-ND/SMC Chair Liam Dacey ‘04 worked closely with Gender Issues Committee Co-Chair, Patrick Tighe ‘10 to assemble the panel, which included three alumni representatives, plus Melanie LeMay ‘10, the Student Member of the Core Council, and Eddie Velazquez ‘10, Co-Chair of that Council.
All three alumni panelists emphasized the importance of including sexual orientation and gender expression in Notre Dame’s nondiscrimination policy. Richard Beatty ’91 and Rick Duffer Landavazo ‘81 did so after describing the anti-gay harassment they experienced as students. Tom Field ’54 emphasized the closet as “the most pernicious form of violence that gays experience” and one that is “no less real for being internal and self-inflicted.” He went on to critique and reject the reasoning used by Notre Dame’s former President, Rev. Edward A. (Monk) Malloy, C.S.C., to justify Notre Dame’s refusal to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its nondiscrimination policy.
The panelists also criticized Notre Dame’s refusal to recognize its gay and lesbian student organization, allow it to advertise its meetings on campus, or provide the same financial support that other student organizations enjoy. Field suggested that Notre Dame’s refusal to recognize its GLBTQ student club licensed others to think that “they too can treat gays and lesbians as less-than-equal members of the University Community.”
The presentation concluded with a detailed report by Dr. Dominic Parrott, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University, who is conducting federally supported research on the causes of homophobia and hate crimes. In addition to establishing a strong link between alcohol consumption and hate crimes, Parrott’s clinical testing shows that peer pressure, especially among young males seeking to demonstrate their masculinity, plays an important role in the commission of hate crimes. During questioning after his presentation, Parrott agreed that Notre Dame’s macho culture plays into that theme.