To:
"Your Voice", CM LIFE
008 Anspach Hall
Central Michigan University
Topic: Gay Pride Week
From:
John Harms
Battle Creek Senior,
President of Prism.
To the Editor,
Many people know who I am. Many people do not. I
am a gay college student here at Central Michigan University. Without a
picture to match with my name, you probably couldn’t tell me apart from
any other student. I am proud of who I am and my accomplishments to this
point of my life. In addition, I am happy with myself because I know who
I am. My family loves me for who I am, and telling them about this big
part of my life did not change that love. If anybody would have asked me
about my sexuality four years ago, I could not have answered confidently.
I was still trying to sort-out that difference between other peers and
myself. If somebody asks me today, I know that I can answer with great
confidence and pride. Hence Gay Pride Week! Taking one week out of the
entire year to celebrate being gay and proud is not that significant. It
is not only a way to celebrate our proud existence, but also a way to communicate
to the rest of the ‘world’ that we exist. The reason why many people have
never seen a Heterosexual Pride Week is because everybody knows and accepts
the fact that heterosexual people exist in this world. I have talked with
students who are proud to know they are straight and also accept gays in
society. And yes, I know people whose religion go against homosexuals,
but they have learned to unconditionally respect and accept all people.
You can throw your religious passages at me all you want, but I am who
I am and I believe I am here for a good reason. I am.
I was very happy after reading the April 15, 1998,
edition of CM LIFE, focusing on the “Your Voice” section. I wish to thank
those students who submitted their positive feedback. Even in this smaller-sized
community, seeing the support in such high numbers truly buries the negative
comments. Thank you to Jessica A. Hoard for your support on the National
Day of Silence. Another big thank you goes to all students, staff, faculty,
and community members who showed their support for NDOS. With time, I believe
the numbers of supporting people will increase. Another round of thanks
goes to Denise Kay Jacobs for your response letter, Jill Morell for your
‘shocked’ letter, and Holly Coon for your 'get-a-bit-of-education' article.
Having about one billion more people like you on this planet would make
everybody’s lives so much better. My last appreciation goes to the staff
at CM LIFE. I was very pleased to see the prompt newspaper support that
we received during Gay Pride Week and National Day of Silence.
I will not see any other responses published before
I present this article to the awesome CM LIFE staff. In advance, I wish
to thank those of you who publish your positive, supportive feedback in
future "Your Voice" articles to follow.
