QNOC Digest 2010.05.09

Queer News On Campus [QNOC] Articles Digest
For the week ending 2010.05.09

Brought to you by the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals. http://www.lgbtcampus.org

Archives of the QNOC Digest can be found at http://queernewsoncampus.blogspot.com

Reminder: If you come across articles that should be included in the digest, please email a link to the article to articles@lgbtcampus.org


1. Diversity Inc - Rutgers Scholarship Recognizes Out & Allied Activists
2. The Daily Targum (Rutgers University) - Gay advocate promotes safe sex awareness
3. Queerty - Rutgers' Gay Frat Boys Celebrate Campus Spirit With The Gaga
4. The Daily Princetonian - Freedom of homosexual expression
5. WKSU (Kent State University) - Professor turns fear into change
6. The Chronicle of Higher Education - Seton Hall U. Considers Canceling Class on Gay Marriage That Archbishop Criticized
7. The Star-Ledger - Letters to the Editor: Gay marriage course at Seton Hall University
8. The Setonian (Seton Hall University) - Gay marriage course in question
9. The Temple News - Republican group hosts gay leader
10. The Chronicle of Higher Education - Marquette U. Professors Criticize Withdrawal of Job Offer to Lesbian Scholar
11. Journal Sentinel - Marquette on hot seat for rescinding job offer to lesbian
12. Journal Sentinel - Wild, critics react after Marquette University pulls job offer to lesbian
13. Journal Sentinel - MU listening sessions set after job offer to lesbian scholar rescinded
14. The Grand Rapids Press - Group challenging Hope College gay policy to present petitions to trustees
15. 9&10 News/AP - Hope College won't remove homosexuality policy
16. 365 Gay - ROTC student must return $80,000 scholarship after coming out
17. The News Tribune - Whatcom Community College hosts Queer Awareness Week
18. The New York Times - College Team Teaches a Lesson in Acceptance

1. Diversity Inc, April 14, 2010
http://www.diversityinc.com/article/7478/Rutgers-Scholarship-Recognizes-Out--Allied-Activists/
Rutgers Scholarship Recognizes Out & Allied Activists (Click link for video.)
By Gail Zoppo

"Rutgers has a great history of welcoming LGBT students," says Richard K. Jung, who was attracted to the university's inclusive culture before becoming director of development at Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences two years ago. "We had one of the very first LGBT student groups in the nation."

Rutgers' commitment to sexual-orientation and gender-identity equality dates back to 1969, when the student Homophile League—now called the Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Alliance of Rutgers University (BiGLARU)—was formed by then–English major Lionel Cuffie.

Still, Jung noticed "a few things that just weren't in place for our LGBT students" when he came aboard. "We didn't have dedicated scholarship funds … we didn't have an alumni group—and those things are really important," he says.

Click here to read more about how AT&T lent a hand to the Rutgers Future Scholars program.

Watch young students taking part in the Rutgers Future Scholars program in this video.

So Jung began to research the Human Rights Campaign web site and saw that much smaller colleges in less-urban areas had formed LGBT scholarships. "And I thought, 'How can the largest institution in the state of New Jersey not have [an LGBT student scholarship] when the University of Mississippi has one?'" he recalls.

That's what inspired Jung and a committed group of alumni, faculty and administrators to launch the LGBT Leadership Scholarship Fund to nurture and support the next generation of LGBT and allied student activists. Jung hopes the scholarship will help recipients to not only continue their academic studies but to encourage community-leadership efforts that fight discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Since launching the scholarship fund last year, more than $96,000 in pledges and gifts—more than half from Rutgers faculty and alumni—have been secured. DiversityInc, whose CEO Luke Visconti sits on the Rutgers board of trustees, was one of the fund's first cash donors. Student events are also helping to raise pledges. To permanently endow the scholarship by the end of the fiscal year, Jung needs $100,000 and hopes to raise $150,000 by the end of June 30.

How much will be allocated to LGBT and ally students? For starters, $4,000 to $4,500 each year will be given, "but we should see the portfolio significantly grow over the years along with our donor base," Jung adds. "I'm really trying to work with corporate diversity groups to see if some don't have LGBT-specific funds to give to the scholarship."

What do students need to qualify? "Most important is [LGBT and ally students'] commitment to the LGBT community, their ability to show that they've taken on and assumed leadership roles and their willingness to be leaders while in school," says Jung.

To qualify, LGBT or ally students must:

-Be enrolled or plan to enroll full time at Rutgers
-Demonstrate involvement in promoting LGBT activities at the university or, if incoming, in high school
-Demonstrate leadership in encouraging a positive identity for LGBT students at the university or within the community
-Have a financial need and good academic standing
To further encourage campus equality, Rutgers began hosting the Rainbow Graduation Celebration in 1998, which honors the achievements of LGBT undergraduate and graduate students each year by presenting the Lionel Cuffie Award for Activism and Excellence. The first LGBT Leadership Scholarship Fund awards, which will be handed out to at least three students, will be announced at this event in May.

One of the driving forces behind this initiative, notes Jung, has been a relatively new organization called the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Alumni/ae Association—RU BiGLATA—which provides a means for alumni to support the current LGBT student community. (For more on LGBT history at Rutgers, click here.)

To learn more about the LGBT Leadership Scholarship Fund or to make a pledge, contact Richard Jung at rjung@sas.rutgers.edu.

2. The Daily Targum (Rutgers University), April 21, 2010
126 College Ave. Suite 431, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
http://www.dailytargum.com/university/gay-advocate-promotes-safe-sex-awareness-1.2235872
Gay advocate promotes safe sex awareness
By Liv Ren

Delta Lambda Phi, the University’s new social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, aimed to teach students about the history of the HIV and AIDS epidemic and the development of safe sex during its event, “Sex Positive: A Night with Richard Berkowitz.”
Berkowitz, the gay American author and early advocate of protection in response to the 1980s AIDS crisis in the homosexual community, shared his story and the history of safe sex with attendees Tuesday night in the Douglass Campus Center.
Philanthropy and Development Director of Delta Lambda Phi Kyle Hartmann noted the significance of inviting Berkowitz, who attended the University in the 1970s, to speak at the event.
“Richard is a Rutgers alumnus, and [the event] shows how, during the HIV and AIDS epidemic, Richard was one of the first people actually promoting safe sex,” said Hartmann, a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
While at the University, Berkowitz organized one of the first gay rights protests in the state when he demonstrated against a homophobic effigy Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity displayed on campus.
“We wanted Mr. Berkowitz to see that this fraternity is on campus now [and] provides a safe place for students to reach out,” Delta Lambda Phi President Russell Kohlmann said.
The main event of the night was a showing of Daryl Wein’s documentary, “Sex Positive,” which features Berkowitz.
“Sex Positive” includes interviews with activists and doctors who were influential during the AIDS epidemic, as well as those the disease affects.
The film chronicles the time of the first onslaught of AIDS during the peak of the sexual revolution in New York City and the resistance against Berkowitz’s campaign for AIDS protection when gay male leaders felt safe sex was a hindrance to a newfound comfort with their sexuality.
“When you see this movie, I hope you understand the history of how and why safe sex was invented,” Berkowitz said. “It is not a small invention, and to understand it is to know why it is important to protect yourselves, your partners and people who are at risk.”
Even though sexual education emphasizes the importance of protection, Berkowitz said as the discourse and dialogue evolved under the previous right-wing political approach, safe sex became boring to the younger generation.
While the public has a greater wealth and access to sexual information, it lacks the discussion that can help people better understand and utilize this information, he said.
Such discussion is particularly important among younger people, especially in a time when a more liberal federal government welcomes it, Berkowitz said.
“If there is any hope for safe sex to gain its appropriately radical sex-positive attitude, it’s going to be your generation that’s going to do it,” he said. “[President Barack Obama] is opening a new window to a more progressive political climate where we can talk more openly about what needs to be said.”
Kohlmann, a Rutgers College senior, said he hopes the progressive sentiment will extend to Delta Lambda Phi’s future.
“I hope we will be able to reach out past the lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and questioning community in the [University],” he said. “We are also a fraternity for progressive men. We provide a safe environment for people of all sexual orientations, creeds and religions, and we are a welcoming community for all men.”
With this event, and more events on Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer awareness in the future, the 20-member fraternity looks to gain greater reach in the community.
“It is important to have events like this, because safe sex is still important today,” Hartmann said. “People nowadays think of HIV as a manageable disease, and they don’t take it as seriously as it should be taken.”

3. Queerty, April 29, 2010
http://www.queerty.com/rutgers-gay-frat-boys-celebrate-campus-spirit-with-the-gaga-20100429/
Rutgers' Gay Frat Boys Celebrate Campus Spirit With The Gaga (Click link for video.)
Unknown

4. The Daily Princetonian, May 3, 2010
P.O. Box 469, Princeton, NJ 08542
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/05/03/26069/
Freedom of homosexual expression
By Andrew Blumenfeld

Coming to Princeton as a brand new, bright-eyed freshman is, let’s admit, a terrifying prospect all on its own. While we’re being honest, I should confess: Arriving as an openly homosexual male has brought its own set of challenges. Battling through the suffering that accompanies hiding an identity for years, then rejoicing through the triumph of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when the truth demands to be liberated — these experiences taken in their entirety represent a coming out story. But that was before Princeton. Since arriving — and approaching the end of my first year — I have learned that the story is far from over and, for better or for worse, requires rethinking.

There has long existed a stereotype about homosexuals coming out of the closet: The Midwestern boy secretly stashes away some savings and quietly packs a suitcase so that, on his 18th birthday, he can announce to his corn-husking parents that he is gay and flee to New York or Los Angeles with nothing but his gayness. With a self-congratulatory attitude, many like to believe this stereotype is a relic of the past.

It’s possible that the new coming-out story, however, will make us yearn for that original rainbow stereotype. This new reality may be grimmer than the stereotype of old and seems to manifest itself quite prominently at Princeton University. At Princeton, it’s okay to be “out” — as long as you’re not gay about it. Boys should only hold hands in the final stretch of their 3:30 a.m. walk home from the Street, and same-sex dancing should only occur among straight girls. After all, gays are meant to be “tolerated,” not seen or heard. It doesn’t take more than a quick review of PrincetonFML, Princeton GoodCrush, or (the epitome) BoredAtFirestone to discover the true venues for which people are apparently supposed to save their “gay.”

Theodore Olson, a prominent conservative who served as President George W. Bush’s lawyer in Bush v. Gore in 2000, characterized the struggle for gay equality as potentially “the last major civil-rights milestone yet to be surpassed in our two-century struggle to attain the goals we set for this nation at its formation”. His statement is particularly noteworthy because he, with his conservative credentials, is one of the lead attorneys battling California’s anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8 in federal courts right now. If there is any remote validity to this statement, the lack of political action around this issue on a major college campus such as Princeton is unnerving. True, the institution is a small one (and the LGBT community, then, necessarily even smaller). But surely any potential for action is only hindered by conforming to this new brand of pseudo-tolerance that is steadfast in its principled, academic resolve that LGBT rights ought to be promoted — but we would prefer never to have to, say, see two men kiss or something gross like that.

The suppression of homosexual (as well as a variety of non-heteronormative) expression at Princeton is certainly not exclusively the fault of the school’s heterosexual majority. Of course, years of hate and intolerance have left a cultural legacy of oppressed behavior; however, minority and majority alike share the blame. It is a common political phenomenon that minority leadership (either selected or self-appointed) is often taken up by those who fall a bit outside of that minority’s norm. Even today, black leaders tend, for example, to be far less in favor of government assistance for the black community than the average black citizen. To be successful, many black leaders had to be (or, at least, felt they had to be) the most white; and to be most successful, budding gay leaders at Princeton seem to believe they need to be the most straight. Gay. But not too gay.

At a fundamental level the question at hand is one of expression: How free do individuals feel in allowing their external behavior to reflect their internal thoughts and desires? It is likely that there are few thresholds more basic in experiencing genuine and meaningful personal liberation. It is not too radical then, I propose, to recognize a link between the extent to which individuals consistently enjoy the experience of matching their outward behavior with their inner desires and the success we are entitled to claim in architecting institutions, cultures and communities that espouse tolerance, justice and equality. Certainly the distance between our current realities and the ideal can be measured in the number of “selves” we use to distance certain elements of our identity from outward expression. Is this true for any number of demographics and identities? Is it particularly true at Princeton? I am inclined to answer: Yes and probably. The fact that this issue is not unique to homosexuals seems like less of a reason to disregard the question than a reason to be even more deeply troubled, and to reflect on it even further.

Perhaps we wrote off that original stereotype too hastily. The Midwestern boy who preferred his sister’s dolls to his brother’s football escaped to those big cities with himself for the first time in his whole life. At Princeton, it’s not clear if everyone can claim the same just yet.

Andrew Blumenfeld is a freshman from La Canada, Calif. He can be reached at ablumenf@princeton.edu.

5. WKSU (Kent State University), May 3, 2010
WKSU-FM, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242–0001
http://www.wksu.org/news/story/25304
Professor turns fear into change (Click link to listen.)
By Amanda Rabinowitz

A Kent State University professor who protested along with students the day National Guardsmen opened fire, turned the tragedy into change. Dolores Knoll says the killing of four students 40 years ago this week marked the day she decided to embrace her sexuality and lead the gay rights movement on campus.

Dr. Dolores Noll led the gay rights movement on Kent State University as an English professor after the May 4th, 1970 campus shootings.

6. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 4, 2010
1255 Twenty-Third St, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Seton-Hall-U-Considers/23688/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Seton Hall U. Considers Canceling Class on Gay Marriage That Archbishop Criticized
Unknown

Seton Hall University, a Roman Catholic institution in New Jersey, is debating whether to cancel a course on gay marriage after the archbishop of Newark, John J. Myers, said it would conflict with church teachings, The Star-Ledger reported. The archbishop serves as chairman of Seton Hall’s Board of Trustees and is president of its Board of Regents, the governing body that oversees academic issues. W. King Mott, the associate professor of political science who was scheduled to teach the class next fall, told the campus newspaper, The Setonian, that the course "is not about advocacy, but about studying the issue from an academic perspective." Mr. Mott is a former associate dean of the university's College of Arts and Sciences who was demoted in 2005 after he wrote a letter to the newspaper criticizing church views on homosexuality.

7. The Star-Ledger, May 5, 2010
1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerletters/2010/05/gay_marriage_course_at_seton_h.html
Letters to the Editor: Gay marriage course at Seton Hall University

Catholic in the broader sense
There was a time when “catholic” (with a small “c”) meant universal and wide-ranging. I like to think Catholic (with a big “c”) universities were created to take that idea to the extreme, providing a wide-ranging education that allows students to make more informed decisions about the world.
Perhaps that’s why Newark Archbishop John J. Myers’ objection to a Seton Hall University class on the political and social implications of gay marriage (“Seton Hall Rethinking Class on Gay Marriage” May 1 is so disturbing. He says the class is “not in synch with Catholic teaching,” a laughable idea given the many other well-respected programs Seton Hall regularly offers.
Seton Hall is not just a seminary. Last time I checked, the university requires religious studies majors take courses in Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism — all of which certainly run counter to “Catholic teaching.” The women’s studies program requires classes in feminist theory — another area of thought that might make the Church squirm. And the Law School teaches about Roe v Wade and the current jurisprudence on abortion — something the Church makes no apologies for opposing.
All of which makes Myers’ protest against this class quite suspect.
Why would a man who holds a doctorate oppose an intelligent debate about a current issue of controversy? Is he really so afraid of what they might learn? If he’s so worried about the Catholic perspective being lost, why not show up as a guest speaker? I bet the students and professor would love to hear what he has to say.
Scott Saloway, Union

Learning through investigation
Newark Archbishop John J. Myers ought to heed the words of St. Irenaeus of Lyon who, in reference to heretics, wrote, “Victory over them lies in exposure of their ideas.” Why does he wish to prevent students being exposed to ideas “not in sync with the teaching of the Catholic Church”? Does he fear that this teaching cannot withstand scrutiny?
An institution committed to indoctrination rather than to free examination of ideas cannot claim to be a university. Therefore, if the Seton Hall trustees accede to the archbishop’s demand and cancel the course on same-sex marriage, the school’s accreditation ought to be withdrawn.
Bruce E. Ford, Newark

There are better topics to study
Gay marriage is, of course, a controversial topic no matter what your religion. Some are for it, some are against it, many do not give a fig for devoting time to the subject of the legal status of private activities when there seem to be so many other pressing issues in the world.
What I do not get is why this topic merits the attention of full-course treatment at a my beloved alma mater. Religion aside, in the grand scheme of things, it seemingly has limited importance to most folks despite its importance for a few. In any event, it does not require the assistance of a professor to enable a university-educated person to master the subject. Read the newspapers and periodicals. You will get a bellyfull sufficient to enable you to form your own opinions. (I’m for recognizing gay marriage, by the way ).
Bill Voorhees, Chester

Integrity is at stake
Seton Hall University’s controversy about running a course on gay marriage reminded me of a similar discussion on the South Orange campus some 40 years ago. The question posed was: “Can a Catholic university be both ‘catholic’ and a ‘university’?”
Isn’t an important goal of any university, Catholic or not, to introduce ideas with opposing viewpoints so as to encourage discussion and vigorous debate? For example, I am quite confident that Seton Hall’s theology and history departments include mention of the split between Roman and Byzantine Christianity 1,000 years ago, as well as the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, despite the fact that, as a Catholic institution, Church doctrine does not validate the theological underpinnings of those schisms of the past.
Similarly, I would hope that the science department offers courses that describe the potential benefits of stem cell research, as well as the ethical challenges such science includes. It seems to me that a Catholic university, if it wishes to be considered something more than a propaganda mill, is ethically bound to present a variety of perspectives on current society.
As a Seton Hall graduate, I sincerely hope the board stands up for academic integrity. Since, in the end,when students will vote to define marriage in New Jersey, they ought to be making an informed decision.
John Slevin, West Orange

Breaking new territory
Debates about a judge’s place on the continuum of judicial restraint and judicial activism belong in the initial confirmation process undertaken by both the executive and legislative branches. If, in the governor’s opinion, the court has overstepped its bounds and is making law rather than interpreting it, the proper means for addressing that concern is his power to nominate candidates to fill vacancies that arise due to retirement or resignation (“Governor ousts justice and names Mendham lawyer as replacement,” May 4).
The governor’s action represents a disturbing abuse of process for which no recourse exists. If it reflects a new Republican way, we are entering the kind of contentious time that makes progress impossible. If it is a maverick power grab by the governor alone, we are in deep trouble.
Sara Sawyer Smith, Maplewood

A lesson in respect
Some 40 years ago, another mother and I allowed our 9th-grade daughters to take a day off from school to travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Mona Lisa Exhibit. Why? Because the girls were interested in studying art and were encouraged by their teacher, who knew nothing of this plan. When they returned, they were filled with enthusiasm and inspiration.
The other mom and I wrote absentee notes, which created an uproar in the administration. When I received a call to come to school, I told the principal, “as one teacher to another, I am not so conceited to think that all learning takes place in the classroom. This may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity, and nothing that transpired in the classroom the previous day could equal that experience.”
The principle was silent, then extended his hand and said “thank you for coming in and explaining it.”
My relationship with the school and principal remained cordial, and when he moved on to become superintendent in another district, I congratulated him.
So, Sylvan Hershey (“Penalties vary for student protesters,” April 29), I congratulate you for allowing your students, whoever they were or whatever their motives, to experience political action. From all accounts, they behaved appropriately.
There is much to be learned both inside and outside the classroom. If you treat our students with respect, most of the time they will return it.
Ruth Bickhardt, Highland Park

8. The Setonian, May 6, 2010
University Center Room 224, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Ave., South Orange, NJ 07079
http://www.thesetonian.com/news/gay-marriage-course-in-question-1.1474572
Gay marriage course in question
By Jessica Sutcliffe

The Archdiocese of Newark has expressed concerns with Seton Hall offering a special topics course on gay marriage next fall.
The class, which will be taught by W. King Mott, will explore the issue of gay marriage from an academic perspective, Mott said.
“The class is not about advocacy, but about studying the issue from an academic perspective. It’s about awareness,” Mott said in a previous Setonian article.
Jim Goodness, director of communications at the archdiocese, told EWTN News that the archdiocese was unaware of the course offering.
He was quoted as saying the decision to offer the class is “troubling.”
“The Church teaches – and has continued to teach for two millennia – that marriage is a union of man and woman, reflecting the complementarity’s of the sexes. That teaching precedes any societal connotation of marriage, and is based on natural law,” Archbishop John J. Myers said in a statement. “This proposed course seeks to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the Church teaches. As a result, the course is not in synch with Catholic teaching.”
Seton Hall’s Board of Trustees, which Archbishop Myers is chairman of, has requested the Board of Regents investigate the course.
Although it has been reported by the Newark Star-Ledger that Seton Hall’s governing board is debating canceling the class, Mott said the class is still scheduled to run in the fall.
Jeffrey Togman, chairman of the department of political science, said the class is of a special topics nature and is being taught from a political theory perspective.
Special topics courses “generally explore an important political or social topic,” according to Larry Robinson, vice provost of the university, as reported by EWTN News.
According to Togman, special topics classes may be taught up to three times before submission to a college-wide educational policy committee is required.
Although the class on gay marriage is contrary to Catholic teachings, Mott was not informed that his course had to adhere to religious principles as set forth by the university.
According to the American Association of University Professors’ 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, “limitations of academic freedom because of religious or other aims of the institution should be clearly stated in writing at the time of the appointment.”
“I have never been notified of any limitations, nor, to my knowledge, have any faculty members,” Mott said.Mott was also asked for a syllabus early, although the faculty guide states that a professor is not required to provide a syllabus until the end of the first week of classes.
Mott said he did not provide a syllabus despite the request, and that he would provide a syllabus to his department one week prior to classes “just as in every other instance.”
EWTN News also reported the vice provost said he anticipates that the Catholic position on same-sex marriage will be “robustly explored.”Robinson could not be reached for comment.
“My impression is that Dr. Robinson is reflecting upon what is true about all academic classes,” Mott said. “Ideas are explored.”
Mott said he does feel the class is being singled out; however, it is “natural” given the subject matter.
Togman did not agree that the course was being singled out.
“Our department embraces both the Catholic mission of the University and the principles of academic freedom,” Togman said in a follow-up e-mail. Mott said other classes have not been required to advocate Catholic teachings.
“Scientist, social scientist, poet, writer, theologian… no professor is required to adhere to any ideology,” Mott said. “We are obliged to ethical use of information and a high level of professionalism.”
Seton Hall’s offering of the course has been widely publicized. The Newark Star-Ledger, NJ.com and the Huffington Post have all featured articles on the issue. As a result, Mott has received some “unkind” letters and phone calls.
“It is my experience that these individuals are terribly afraid of something,” Mott said.
However, despite the backlash, Mott said he has received more support than opposition.
When asked about his thoughts on the subject, Vice-Chair of The Faculty Senate David Beneteau spoke for himself and not the senate. “It is regrettable that there would be any objection to students being exposed to free academic discourse on campus,” Beneteau said.
Jessica Sutcliffe can be reached at jessica.sutcliffe@student.shu.edu.

9. The Temple News, May 4, 2010
1755 N. 13th St., Room 243, Philadelphia, PA 19122
http://temple-news.com/2010/05/04/republican-group-hosts-gay-leader/
Republican group hosts gay leader
By Joshua Fernandez

Jimmy LaSalvia, who runs gay conservative group GOProud, attended a College Republicans event to debate and discuss the future of gays in the GOP.
Temple College Republicans President Barry Scatton first met Jimmy LaSalvia on Feb. 18 at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C. During a speaking event, Ryan Sorba, of the California chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, condemned CPAC for inviting GOProud, a gay conservative organization for which LaSalvia is executive director.
“Jimmy’s organization GOProud was the first gay conservative organization ever invited to CPAC so we thought it was important to get in touch with him,” Scatton, a senior political science major, said. “We wanted to make sure he felt welcomed at the conference, and we also wanted him to know that there are Republicans who support gay issues.”
Last Tuesday, TCR hosted LaSalvia as a guest speaker on Main Campus.
Despite a small turnout, the event drew individuals, gay and straight, from all ends of the political spectrum to discuss political ideology and policy and sexual orientation.
“Our purpose is to serve as a voice on the federal level for the gay conservatives in this country, bringing our unique perspective to the debates,” LaSalvia said of GOProud.
GOProud came out of the gay Republican organization Log Cabin Republicans, which had a network of local chapters around the country, but has had no national executive director for about 15 months. When LaSalvia and a few members were no longer working for LCR, they formed GOProud.
The TCR event featuring LaSalvia addressed many issues surrounding gay rights and the Republican party. Topics ranged from GOProud’s stance on transgender issues — a population it doesn’t mention specifically, but still supports — to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and hate crimes legislation, to the future of gays in the Republican party.
At the event, LaSalvia said the battle for gay rights is a question of priorities.
“The premise of my whole discussion and the premise of the existence of our organization is that HRC and the gay left don’t speak for everyone,” he said. “Their priorities aren’t necessarily the priorities of everyone in the gay community.
“If the No. 1 issue for gay and lesbian voters was hate crimes and ENDA, then 1.3 million gay people would not have voted for John McCain, because he did not support those pieces of legislation,” LaSalvia added.
LaSalvia explained most gay conservatives would argue that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy banning gay and lesbian military members from serving openly, should be a higher priority as opposed to ENDA and hate-crimes legislation, which he said affects relatively few people. He cited bigoted employers looking for loopholes to fire gay people, and hate crime cases being prosecuted as reasons for this sentiment.
This drew criticism from junior political science major Donald Hopkins, who said this was a lack of knowledge and awareness of queer needs, especially for those of low incomes.
“If there is a place for queers in the Republican party, it’s an invitation only extended to wealthy gay people,” he said. “I can’t help but feel to a certain degree that this is a politically cynical attempt to get queer people to support traditional extreme right Republican positions.”
TCR member and freshman journalism major Shauna Mulligan said a majority of Republicans are too socially conservative to back gay rights.
“I think a true supporter of ‘small government’ would realize that a government that tells people who to marry is a government with a scary amount of control,” she added. “I hope that someone like Jimmy, who not only sees this but lives it, can help open the minds of those within the Republican party and possibly change the minds of those outside of the party that see all Republicans as homophobic bigots.”
“The Republican party can no longer ignore these issues and it is only through collaborating with organizations like GOProud that we will get Republican politicans to take gay issues seriously,” Scatton said.
“I think the overriding message that I can say to straight voters and straight political activists, particularly conservatives, is to remember that there are gay people who agree with you,” LaSalvia said. “When there is anti-gay rhetoric and politics being played, it’s their responsible to stand up and call it out when they see it, so we can move out of the politics of division.”
Josh Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.

10. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 7, 2010
1255 Twenty-Third St, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037
http://chronicle.com/article/Marquette-U-Professors/65451/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Marquette U. Professors Criticize Withdrawal of Job Offer to Lesbian Scholar
Unknown

Marquette University has withdrawn an employment offer it made to a prospective new dean for its College of Arts and Sciences, provoking sharp criticism from several faculty members who see the move as a blow to academic freedom and diversity at the Jesuit institution, according to news reports.

The rejected hiree, Jodi O'Brien, is a sociologist at Seattle University and a lesbian who has written about gender and sexual-identity issues. A Marquette University spokeswoman said the withdrawal of the job offer to Ms. O'Brien was not about the quality of her scholarly work or her sexual identity, but about how some of her writings related "to Catholic mission and identity," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Nancy E. Snow, a philosophy professor, told the newspaper she believes the move was "all about her sexual orientation" and was motivated by administrators' fears of upsetting donors.

In an e-mail message to the Journal Sentinel, Ms. O'Brien confirmed that she had been offered the position at Marquette and had accepted it, "but there was an intercession by the president before my appointment was announced officially."

Marquette's president, the Rev. Robert A. Wild, was not available for comment. Members of the search committee that had recommended Ms. O'Brien and one other candidate as finalists said Father Wild and the university's provost, John J. Pauly, had met with them on Wednesday and told them they had failed to scrutinize Ms. O'Brien's scholarly works adequately.

Stephen L. Franzoi, a professor of psychology who was also on the committee, disputed that characterization of the panel's work. He told the Journal Sentinel that the committee had advised senior administrators not to choose Ms. O'Brien if the university was not willing to support her, if her sexual orientation or her scholarship became targets of criticism. "To say now that we were not careful enough is ludicrous," he said. "They should have been prepared to defend their choice."

11. Journal Sentinel, May 6, 2010
P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, WI 53201
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/93012094.html
Marquette on hot seat for rescinding job offer to lesbian
By Sharif Durhams and Katelyn Ferral

Marquette University has pulled an offer to hire a new dean for the College of Arts and Sciences from a lesbian who has written scholarly works on gender and sexual orientation, a move that is sparking criticism from faculty and a protest by students.

A university spokeswoman said the decision to withdraw an offer to hire Seattle University professor Jodi O'Brien wasn't about her sexual orientation or the quality of her scholarship. It did have to do with some of O'Brien's published writings "relating to Catholic mission and identity," Marquette spokeswoman Mary Pat Pfeil said.

"This was a decision based on a totality of factors, specifically related to the fit for the candidate to the college," she said in an interview.

In the end, the Jesuit school determined O'Brien was not an "acceptable candidate for permanent appointment," Pfeil said in a statement released Thursday afternoon by the university.

"At this time, the only comment I can offer is to confirm that I was offered the position of Dean and I accepted it, but there was an intercession by the President before my appointment was announced officially," O'Brien said in an e-mail Thursday evening. "I'm stunned and disappointed."

Several faculty members said the decision raised concerns about academic freedom and the university leadership's discomfort with the subject of O'Brien's published work - including a sociological study of vignettes on lesbian sex - rather than any issues of quality.

Psychology professor Stephen Franzoi, who served on a search committee for the post, said faculty members forwarded two candidates to Marquette President Father Robert A. Wild and Provost John Pauly. In their recommendation, committee members warned Wild and Pauly not to pick O'Brien if the university was not willing to support her if her sexual orientation or if her scholarship were criticized, Franzoi said.

Nancy E. Snow, a philosophy professor, helped O'Brien hunt for houses in Shorewood last month. She said the discussion of O'Brien's work is a smokescreen.

She sent an e-mail to several faculty members saying that she suspects donors criticized the hire and that Wild feared losing their support.

"This is a travesty that will have long-term impact for our ability to retain and hire high quality faculty," Snow said. "It's a public disgrace and an embarrassment."

Pfeil said she didn't know of a donor threatening to pull a donation from Marquette because of the hire.

About 100 students, some carrying signs, protested the decision in front of Marquette's Alumni Memorial Union, blocking part of Wisconsin Ave. on Thursday afternoon just before an award dinner for Marquette faculty. Some faculty members wore pink and lavender clothing and flowers in protest.

Margaret Steele, a doctoral student in philosophy department, said the decision "was made behind closed doors and very quietly" and seemed to be a "violation of MU values."

Nationwide search

Marquette has been searching for an arts and sciences dean since December 2007, when then-dean Michael McKinney retired. Three finalists for the post were brought to campus in 2009, but the search was called off. Pauly said the university wanted to wait for better economic times that would attract a larger field of candidates.

This time, the committee of nine faculty, an alumnus and a staff member chose its two finalists in March.

O'Brien, who has a doctorate from the University of Washington, was hired as an assistant professor at Seattle University, a Jesuit school, in 1995, and was named chair of the department of anthropology and sociology in 2002. She became a full professor of sociology in 2005, according to her resume.

The committee also nominated Howard Brown, former chair of the history department at Binghamton University.

Wild and Pauly met with committee members Wednesday and said Marquette was considering pulling the offer to O'Brien. Committee member Scott Reid, a chemistry professor, said the committee was told that members didn't scrutinize O'Brien's scholarly works.

"We had people who were very familiar with her work," Reid said, and the others read her writings before recommendations were made, Reid said. He said criticism about O'Brien's writings weren't raised earlier.

"To say now that we were not careful enough is ludicrous," Franzoi said. "They should have been prepared to defend their choice."

Pfeil maintained that Wild has a well-deserved reputation of being inclusive of gays and lesbians, and that Marquette has made notable strides in the area of diversity in the past decade.

"We have on our faculty and staff individuals of various faiths, ages, ethnicity and sexual orientation," she said. "These differences help us to promote a culture of learning, appreciation and understanding."

12. Journal Sentinel, May 7, 2010
P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, WI 53201
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/93071759.html
Wild, critics react after Marquette University pulls job offer to lesbian
By Sharif Durhams

Marquette University President Father Robert A. Wild tried to ease tensions over the school's decision to rescind a job offer of a deanship to a lesbian who has written academic writings on sexuality and gender.

Wild announced in March that he planned to step down in June 2011 after 15 years at Marquette's helm. At an awards dinner for faculty Thursday, Wild said that he appreciated the work of gay and lesbian Marquette employees and that he would prioritize promoting inclusion and diversity during his remaining time as Marquette's president.

Here's a transcript from a video of Wild's comments on the matter, posted on Marquette's Web site.

“I want to say strongly, clearly and directly what this decision is not about. It is not about sexual identity. That’s important to say.

If we were approaching matters in that way, it is not only illegal, it’s against our Catholic faith.

We have a variety of men and women here who are homosexual who work in all sorts of venues at this university, holding a variety of positions. They do great work. They make a variety of contributions to this university. It is certainly not about sending a negative message to these men and women.

I also would say that we can, will and must learn from this. My colleagues and I who are responsible for conducting academic searches will, of course, learn something further on how we can improve our protocol and due diligence. But I think much more importantly, I have learned something about the work we need to do to get us to an even greater level of inclusion and support as a community so that decisions like this one, as difficult as they are, do not so quickly polarize us.

I can tell you that I will begin to make this journey of inclusion and diversity that we already have been on – a journey that this university has been on, all of us together, for a long time, certainly during these 14 years – one of my priorities in my remaining time in office.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Wild said the school decided to withdraw the offer after he and other university leaders read academic writings by the candidate.

“We found some strongly negative statements about marriage and family,” Wild said.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people have joined a Facebook group called “Marquette: Do Not Discriminate Against Jodi O’Brien.”

13. Journal Sentinel, May 7, 2010
P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, WI 53201
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/93174084.html
MU listening sessions set after job offer to lesbian scholar rescinded
By Sharif Durhams

Marquette University leaders will hold listening sessions with students and faculty next week in an effort to quell criticism after abruptly cutting ties to a lesbian gender studies scholar who had accepted an offer to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Word spread among student government leaders and others on campus Friday that the university had scheduled a listening session Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms. When asked about those details, a university spokeswoman said the school plans to hold a session for the university community and one for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, but hasn't nailed down details. Friday was the last day of classes for the semester for Marquette students, but some students will be around until the May 23 commencement.

Jodi O'Brien, a professor and department chair at Seattle University - which, like Marquette, is Jesuit - had visited Milwaukee to look for a house after she was offered the College of Arts and Sciences position. However, the school pulled the offer this week, citing published works from O'Brien "relating to Catholic mission and identity."

Some students and professors protested Thursday, saying that the topics of her academic writings, which include sociological studies of vignettes on gay and lesbian sex, were clear before O'Brien was offered the post.

A university spokeswoman had scheduled an interview between President Father Robert A. Wild and a Journal Sentinel reporter and editorial writer Friday, but later canceled the meeting, saying this was now a legal situation.

In an interview published Friday in the New York Times, Wild said the school decided to withdraw the offer after he and other university leaders read academic writings by the candidate. "We found some strongly negative statements about marriage and family," Wild said.

In a letter to the school faculty, Wild wrote: "While this person has an excellent background, a record of achievement and a strong academic track record, it was decided after further analysis that this individual was not the person who could best fill this very important position. This decision was not based on any candidate's personal background nor does the decision in any way challenge a faculty member's freedom to write in his or her area of scholarly expertise."

O'Brien did not return a message Friday.

David Powers, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seattle University, said Friday that O'Brien still had her job there.

"Dr. Jodi O'Brien remains a valued member of the Seattle University academic community," he said. "She has distinguished herself as a scholar, teacher and leader, as both a professor of sociology and chairperson of the Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work."

At an awards dinner Thursday, Wild told faculty that he appreciated the work of gay and lesbian Marquette employees and that he would prioritize promoting inclusion and diversity during his remaining time as Marquette's president. Wild plans to step down in June 2011 after 15 years at the university's helm.

In a video of his talk posted on Marquette's Web site, Wild said: "I want to say strongly, clearly and directly what this decision is not about. It is not about sexual identity. That's important to say. If we were approaching matters in that way, it is not only illegal, it's against our Catholic faith.

"We have a variety of men and women here who are homosexual who work in all sorts of venues at this university, holding a variety of positions. They do great work. They make a variety of contributions to this university. It is certainly not about sending a negative message to these men and women.

"I also would say that we can, will and must learn from this. My colleagues and I who are responsible for conducting academic searches will, of course, learn something further on how we can improve our protocol and due diligence. But I think much more importantly, I have learned something about the work we need to do to get us to an even greater level of inclusion and support as a community so that decisions like this one, as difficult as they are, do not so quickly polarize us."

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people have joined a Facebook group called "Marquette: Do Not Discriminate Against Jodi O'Brien." Members of the group said they were trying to figure out ways to voice their displeasure with the university, from encouraging alumni to write letters to organizing other protests.

14. The Grand Rapids Press, May 6, 2010
155 Michigan St. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/group_challenging_hope_college.html
Group challenging Hope College gay policy to present petitions to trustees
By Dave Murray

HOLLAND -- Two Holland advocacy group said they're teaming up to pressure Hope College trustees to remove a controversial statement on homosexuality.
Hope is Ready, a student group, collected more than 1,000 signatures while working with the community group Holland is Ready. Together, they're asking trustees to reject the 1995 statement which says the college "will not provide recognition, financial or logistical support for groups whose purposes include the advocacy or moral legitimization of homosexual behavior."
The groups plans to present the signatures to the college Board of Trustees, which is meeting today and Friday. The student group collected more than 700 of the signatures, with the community group adding nearly 400 more.
The petition drive grew out of an October move by college leaders opposing a campus appearance by Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter of an award-winning movie about gay activist Harvey Milk.
The groups are backed by an influential alumni group that includes the children of past presidents and a former U.S. ambassador -- and effort dismissed by the trustees' president as a "small group of dissenting alumni" that promoted "ambush journalism" when it released a statement to local media.
In their letter to the Board of Trustees, the Rev. Jennifer Adams, of Holland is Ready wrote that the group is concerned regarding the rights and treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons who are students, faculty, staff, alum and guests of Hope.
The statement on homosexuality "is reflective of neither the Reformed Church in America's current approach to issues of human sexuality nor is it a reflection of the diversity, hospitality and health of the surrounding community," Adams wrote.
She said the group cares and honors Hope's values, but, "as long as the college forbids LGBT advocacy on the part of student groups and campus speakers, it cannot presume to be in dialogue on homosexuality."
The petitions, she wrote, do not ask the board or president to affirm homosexuality, but "ask for this issue to be treated the same as all other controversial, moral concerns, with an absence of a mandated position."
A representative of the student group praised the partnership.
"There's a wonderful and curious amoebae of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy happening on the Lakeshore," said Karis Granberg-Michaelson, a 2009 graduate and daughter of the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, the RCA general secretary.
E-mail Dave Murray: dmurray@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterDMurray

15. 9&10 News/AP, May 8, 2010
P.O. Box 627, Cadillac, MI 49601
http://www.9and10news.com/Category/Story/?id=225833&cID=2
Hope College won't remove homosexuality policy
Unknown

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — The board of Hope College had declined to remove a 1995 policy that condemns homosexual behavior and advocacy.

The Holland Sentinel and The Grand Rapids Press report the board of the Christian college on Friday decided to keep the policy. Alumni, student and community groups had joined to petition the board to drop the policy.

The board said, however, that the policy could be amended by a committee.

The petition effort followed a 2009 decision by the college in Holland to not allow openly gay filmmaker Dustin Lance Black to host an on-campus screening of "Milk," a film about a gay San Francisco politician.

Black won an Academy Award for the "Milk" screenplay.

16. 365 Gay, May 7, 2010
http://www.365gay.com/news/rotc-student-must-return-80000-scholarship-after-coming-out/
ROTC student must return $80,000 scholarship after coming out
By Ruth Schneider

The costly military ban, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, is adding up to almost $80,000 in debt for one University of North Carolina student.

Sara Isaacson was offered an ROTC scholarship that financed her UNC education. But the values the ROTC instilled in her left her with a conundrum: Should she come out to her commander?

“What it came down to for me is that I felt I needed to come out to my commander because of integrity,” Isaacson told Campus Politics. “Integrity is one of the seven Army values and is something that they train us to live by every day, every second, whether someone’s watching or not. … Without realizing it, the policy really asks people to lie, to lie about who they are, to tell small lies about what they did or didn’t do. It’s something that I wasn’t willing to do because if I don’t have my values to fall back on, I have nothing.”

As a result, her battalion is recommending she repay her scholarships: The bill now stands at $79,265.14.

“I really don’t know how I’m going to make it happen. I don’t have $80,000 in my back pocket to just give to the Army,” she said.

17. The News Tribune, May 7, 2010
1950 South State Street, Tacoma, WA 98405
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/05/07/1178515/whatcom-community-college-hosts.html
Whatcom Community College hosts Queer Awareness Week
By Zoe Fraley

BELLINGHAM - A candlelight vigil and a drag show are two of the events scheduled for Queer Awareness Week starting Monday, May 10, at Whatcom Community College.

This is the third year for the awareness week, which is put on by the college's Queer Straight Alliance.

Events will open with a health awareness fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday in the Syre Student Center, with booths from nonprofit agencies and mental and physical health specialists. Tuesday's event will be a showing of the film "The Celluloid Closet" at 2 p.m. in Syre.

On Wednesday, a panel will answer questions from noon to 2 p.m. in the Syre Auditorium. A candlelight vigil will start at 8 p.m. Thursday outside of the Syre center, with candles provided.

The week will end with a Drag & Variety Show from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Syre Auditorium. Tickets are $8 adults, $5 students. Proceeds support Bellingham Pflag, which hosts the annual Bellingham Pride Festival.

18. The New York Times, May 9, 2010
620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/sports/09oneonta.html?src=me
College Team Teaches a Lesson in Acceptance
By Katie Thomas

ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Oneonta men’s lacrosse team marched two by two onto the field, sticks held with purpose for the final home game of the season. Beneath their helmets, the players flashed hard looks and cheeks smeared with eye black.

Tough and menacing is the team’s reputation around this State University of New York campus in the foothills of the Catskills. Even Dan Mahar, the head coach, acknowledges his players are viewed as a bit “rough around the edges.”

But this season, the team is developing a new reputation — as models of tolerance — after one of its captains announced in an online essay in February that he was gay. The senior, Andrew McIntosh, said he had not heard a single disparaging comment from his teammates.

“I was embraced with open arms,” he said. “I had teammates come up and give me handshakes, and people saying it takes a lot of guts to do that.”

Sports have long been viewed as inhospitable to gay men. The number of American male professional team athletes who have come out can be counted on two hands. In locker rooms, antigay slurs are tossed around as casually as borrowed towels. Yet for those who follow the increasingly common stories of athletes who decide to come out while in college, McIntosh’s story is not an anomaly, but the norm.

“For some reason, people continue to think that gay people in sports will have a rough time, but we haven’t seen in 10 years anyone kicked off their team,” said Cyd Zeigler, the co-founder of Outsports.com, referring to male athletes. The site published the essay by McIntosh and has served as a public home for gay athletes to tell their coming-out stories. Since the Web site began in 2000, Zeigler estimates that more than two dozen college and high school athletes have used the site to reveal that they are gay.

Still, for players who rely on an athletic scholarship or are beholden to a coach, “you’re afraid of the unknown,” Zeigler said.

That was the case for McIntosh, who started playing T-ball in kindergarten and by sixth grade had graduated to football and lacrosse. As he entered high school, sports became a refuge from what McIntosh described as confusing feelings about his sexuality.

“I took sports so seriously because I didn’t have a personal life,” he said. “That was my partner. I didn’t have anything to fall back on.”

Sometimes, that single-mindedness came at a cost. McIntosh said he tried to commit suicide after his team lost a football game and with it, a chance at the playoffs — one of several times he said he considered taking his life. He blamed his failure on the field on his attraction to men.

“I would think to myself, because you’re thinking that way, you lost the game,” he said.

In college, McIntosh’s discomfort with his identity led him on a path across New York State, first as a scholarship athlete at C.W. Post University on Long Island, then as a transfer student at SUNY Plattsburgh. He eventually arrived at Division III Oneonta College in the fall of 2008.

Being an athlete, he thinks, kept him from coming to terms with his sexual orientation.

“I just thought, you cannot be a gay athlete,” he said. “Gay and athlete don’t go together.”

At Oneonta, McIntosh made an impression as a confident, serious player. At 6 feet 2 inches and 215 pounds, he is an imposing defender and quickly became a starter. In the classroom, he earned good grades as an adolescent-education major.

Mahar said that bus drivers and high school recruits sometimes confused McIntosh for a coach.

“He has just very mature, very likeable qualities to him,” Mahar said.

McIntosh was just the kind of player that Mahar was trying to cultivate. Mahar was then in his second year as the coach and was working to improve the reputation of the team.

“We have some good players, but none of them are going to be drafted,” he said. “My job is to prepare them to go and get real jobs and to be successful after they leave Oneonta.”

One afternoon in the spring of 2009, Mahar pulled the team out of practice after some players described one of his drills as “gay.” Mahar said he had been hearing such language on the bus and during practice.

“Regardless of how you feel about whether being gay is right or wrong,” Mahar said he told the team, “the language is not appropriate.”

For McIntosh, it was a welcome signal.

“I had never heard a coach say that before,” McIntosh said.

That summer, McIntosh decided to confront his sexual identity. It had been a good year — he had adjusted well, and Mahar had recently named him one of four team captains for his senior year.

“I started thinking: ‘What is the matter with me?’ ” McIntosh said. “ ‘Why can’t I beat this?’ That’s how I thought, too: ‘I’m going to beat this.’ And I finally just gave in and just said, ‘This is who I am,’ and I decided I don’t want to live this way.”

McIntosh told those closest to him first: two friends, his sister, his brother, his parents. His sister, who is also gay, directed him to Outsports.com, which McIntosh described as a revelation. Through the site, he became reacquainted with the story of Andrew Goldstein, a Dartmouth lacrosse player who in 2003 revealed to his team that he was gay. McIntosh tracked down Goldstein and sought advice.

“I didn’t feel alone anymore,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh’s family had known that something was amiss, but “I didn’t know what he was struggling with,” said his mother, Cathy McIntosh. She realized he was gay about a year before he broke the news, she said. “I figured he’d tell me when he was ready.”

Later that summer, McIntosh told his coach, broaching the topic first in an e-mail message. For McIntosh, telling Mahar and other athletes presented the greatest risk of rejection.

“I didn’t want to seem vulnerable,” he said. “I didn’t want people to think, ‘Oh, he’s not doing too well mentally.’ ”

Mahar said he tried to make McIntosh feel as comfortable as possible.

“I know that that was a very difficult and anxious conversation for him,” Mahar said. “I wanted Andrew to leave the office knowing he was supported, and this did not change anything as far as I was concerned.”

In his online essay, McIntosh wrote that his coach assured him that “if we had a roster of 30 players and 15 of them did not want to play on the team because I was gay, he would tell them to leave the team.”

Buoyed by the positive response, McIntosh told the other captains and some of his closest friends on the team. In January, he wrote a thank-you note to Outsports.com. Zeigler suggested that he write his own story.

“Everybody has a story that some kid is going to connect with,” Zeigler said.

McIntosh agreed. But before it went online, he had to tell his team first. McIntosh asked the coaches to give him some time after practice one day in February.

“I just spoke right from the heart,” he said.

Several of the players said they were surprised, but ultimately unfazed by McIntosh’s news.

“It’s not every day that your lacrosse captain comes out to you,” said Joe Schofield, 20, a sophomore. “I was a little surprised, but it was kind of like, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ ”

So how did a team that had once been reprimanded for using insensitive language come to embrace a gay teammate? Goldstein, the former Dartmouth lacrosse player, said the macho atmosphere ultimately did not mean very much.

“I think when they find out that the guy next to them — this is his life — it becomes real,” said Goldstein, who briefly played professional lacrosse and is now pursuing a doctorate in molecular biology at U.C.L.A. He was greeted with similar support when he told his Dartmouth team he was gay. “It’s not just some slur that they passed on from hearing from someone else.”

Zeigler says the experience of female athletes who are gay is very different. Although they are openly gay in larger numbers than men, he said female athletes had to fight the opposite stereotype — the assumption that all women who play sports are gay. As a result, female athletes who are gay have sometimes encountered harassment from coaches and fellow teammates. For male athletes, however, “the response is either indifference, or it’s positive,” Zeigler said.

Mahar said he had heard that a handful of opposing players had yelled epithets at McIntosh during games, and he said one opposing coach falsely accused McIntosh of using inappropriate language before a game — something Mahar said he believed was related to McIntosh’s sexual orientation.

Mahar said he planned to address the issue at a conference meeting later this year.

But McIntosh said he had never heard anything negative.

“It’s really at the point now where we’re just out there to play lacrosse,” McIntosh said.

In the locker room, McIntosh said, “it’s business as usual. We talk about life and how is your day going.”

If anything, McIntosh and his teammates said, the situation makes for some good jokes.

On a team trip to North Carolina earlier this year, “some of us said, ‘I hope a girls’ soccer team shows up at the hotel,’ ” recalled Andy Morris, 20, and a sophomore. “Mac goes, ‘I hope a guys’ soccer team shows up.’ ”

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