Necessary to un-censor

Two weeks ago, The Spartan released an issue with a story on the front page headlined “Controversial Kiss.”  The story revealed some surprising reactions to a same-sex kiss in the play “Spring Awakening.”

 The article itself garnered some strong reactions as well, good and bad. Some applauded The Spartan for not shying away from a topic as heavy as homophobia, but other’s felt the article crossed a line, so we would like to make our motives behind publishing this story clear to the Castleton community.

 It is our opinion that this kiss should not have been anything even close to controversial. It was by far the least scandalous theme in the play.

 It’s a pity that people still react to a natural thing in such a strong and negative manner, but they do, and unfortunately, that makes it news.

Castleton is generally a very accepting and tolerant place, but Spartan Reporter Callie Ginter uncovered while writing her article that there are still a select few on our campus who harbor intense feelings of hatred and fear.

One particular uncensored quote from an anonymous source had many readers up in arms over our decision to print such a derogatory and hurtful word.

We understand the hurt and confusion some members of our community must have felt reading a quote like that.  It is difficult to learn that someone you don’t even know hates you so blindly and matter-of-factly.

However, the fact that this level of homophobia exists on our campus, even if only within this one individual, is something we feel must be reported on.  

If we were to shy away from the aggressiveness of this quote, we would be shying away from the seriousness of the issue.

We look forward to a day when we won’t have to write about it, because this level of prejudice, directed at any member of our Castleton family, will be a thing of the past.

-Jorah McKinley

 

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