As part of the group that initiated the "Gay? Fine By Me." Project, we worry that columnist Nathan Carleton misinterpreted the meaning of the shirts in his recent column.
As is aptly illustrated by Carleton's column, the shirts did not silence homophobic views.
The shirts were not attached to any extensive political agenda. They were only designed to give voice to an anti-homophobic opinion that, as it turned out, many members of the Duke community shared. For the wearers, straight and gay, homosexuality was fine by them. We think the project was, and continues to be a success.
It was a success to get almost 2,000 students, faculty, administrators and staff to wear the shirts.
We think it was a success that the president of the University, other administrators, DSG representatives and other student leaders and multiple members of both varsity basketball teams wore the shirts.
We are pleased to see Duke get national coverage as an institution that is opposed to homophobia. We are glad that Duke was taken off of the Princeton Review's list of schools where "Alternative Lifestyles [are] Not an Alternative" after the shirts came out. We think it was a success that organizations around the country have started distributing shirts and that other colleges and universities will be joining in the movement this semester.
We recognize that people wear the shirts for many different reasons and we do not profess to speak for all of them. If you own a shirt, we encourage you to write into the Chronicle and explain why you wear it. If the shirts encourage Nathan Carleton to rethink his homophobic opinions, then we are pleased. But we were not intending to silence his voice, only to use ours.
Leila Nesson, graduate student,
Joseph Lee, Trinity '04
The authors are organizers of the
"Gay? Fine By Me." Project
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