On Sept. 17, I had the opportunity to dine at the Center for Race Relations and engage in dinner and a dialogue between AQUA Duke and the Duke Conservative Union. The roots of this evening were planted in the Chronicle column written two weeks ago by Nathan Carlton, president of DCU.
We were able to engage in a thoughtful, intelligent exchange, bringing out ill notions and misconceptions we had about one another. DCU was able to cast away suspicions of a conspiracy against the LGBT community to repress or endanger them. The AQUA Duke members present listened to and engaged the opinions DCU members held about the LGBT community.
Ambiguous terminology, such as homophobic, was defined. The attendees realized they had more in common than previously thought. Just as many LGBT members are in the closet, there was an in the closet DCU member in attendance fearing association with DCU may lead to repercussions in a job search.
Overall, the evening was a success in my opinion and in the opinions of most of the attendees. The two politically extremist groups were able to get together and peacefully display their differences and at least come to a greater understanding of the other side. I don't think that minds were changed across the board (remember: these are politically extremist groups) but tolerance and acceptance for the LGBT community was evident in most of the DCU members and respect and acceptance for the conservative view was just as evident with most of the AQUA Duke. Both of these were contrary to what may have been expected.
I commend the Center for Race Relations for organizing and sponsoring the event and hope that we will be fortunate enough to have more discussions in the future.
Kevin Cullen
Trinity '07
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