Bryan Guffey is the President of the Alpha Psi chapter of Delta Lambda Phi, the national social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men at Kent State University. He is also the OUTside program coordinator for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland and the Undergraduate Student Senator for Student Advancement at Kent State.

Bryan Guffey

OK, you say you want things to change at Kent State for sexual minorities. Good for you. Pat yourselves on the back because you’ve taken the first step. You’ve recognized the problem.

Wait. Why am I congratulating you? If you are reading this Web site, then you already probably are aware of the problem and you’ve either been directly affected by it or you sympathize with those who are affected by it. And for those precious few who have no idea what the problem is, let me clue you in about what that “it” is. HATE. Now, when I say hate, I am not just talking about the hate that manifests itself in venom-spitting preachers and hate-mongering reactionaries who say that all those who are not heterosexual AND hate those who aren’t are going to burn in the fiery depths of Hades. I am talking about the hate that manifests itself in unequal representation at the state and local level, the hate that shows itself in the policies that don’t protect LGBT people and the hate that never even acknowledges us. This type of hate is much more insidious because we dress it up with pretty terms like “opinion”, “belief”, and “prejudice.” The simple fact is that not doing everything you can to make sure a minority has equal opportunity and access in the most honest way possible is hateful. And, therefore, my friends, many of us are guilty of hating ourselves and our people.

Yes, that’s right. You hate yourself. Maybe not as much as the fundamentalist right-wing gay-basher, but just a little self-hate can be ten times as destructive as fifty irate conservatives. They make us fight harder, but we shoot ourselves in the foot so we can’t march forward. They call us names, but we beat ourselves into the ground. For every one step their anger pushes us forward, many of us make ourselves move two steps back. How, you may ask? Well, how many of you are out there on the front lines, actually trying to DO something about the inequality? Or better yet, how many of you are sitting at home whining about the Defense of Marriage Act or the lack of domestic partner benefits yet when the time comes and someone asks you to do even the littlest thing like flyering the campus, you yawn and say, “Oh, I’m too tired.” The Stater recently ran an editorial cartoon that poked fun at the small coalition of individuals fighting for faculty domestic partner benefits, something Kent State has yet to recognize. The cartoon depicted two men holding picket signs alluding to the small turnout for important issues like LGBT rights in the workplace. If you are not willing to get out there and fight for what you believe in if you are a member of the LGBT community or an ally, then when things go from bad to worse, then you have no right to be standing on the sidelines saying, “This isn’t fair” because your indifference gave fuel to the fire. By not being an activist, you are saying, “Okay, it’s all right.”

When you make the choice to go to the Interbelt instead of stuffing envelopes for one night to educate people about LGBT issues, there is a problem. When you decide to sleep in on Sunday instead of going to chalk the campus, there is a problem. When you decide to stay home and drink on a Thursday night instead of going to a PRIDE! Kent meeting to make your voice heard, there is a problem. The problem is this: If everything was right with the world, and LGBT people weren’t beaten, killed and hated every single day across the globe, you could sit on your butt. I wouldn’t care. However, that’s not the case. We are in a war here, people! Treat it as such. Come to the battle prepared and ready to fight or don’t come crying to me when the government seizes your home or job because you’re gay.

I’m not saying everybody needs to do everything. Just that everybody needs to do SOMETHING. Go to a meeting and be honest about how you feel. Go to your administrator and ask why there isn’t a place for LGBT students to get professional help on campus. Take a stand and say something -- or else you will be in a much worse situation.

I was going to write this column about specifics on what should happen at Kent State to make it more friendly for LGBT students, but the honest truth is, we know what those are: A university funded, professionally staffed LGBT Student Services Center that I proposed to the USS senate this year NEEDS to be on campus soon. LGBT groups that work for and with the students can always be stronger with your help. But none of this can happen until we MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD. So, that is my call to you. Say something, do something, anything. Because right now, you have a voice. And when you don’t you will realize how much you wish you would have used it when you could.

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