queer issues
the university daily kansan 7B
Acceptance of sexual orientation varies in Kansas
Kansas universities provide similar queer organizations, different attitudes
Kansas universities provide similar queer organizations, different attitudes
Megan True/Kansas
Roy Carter, former University of Kansas and Kansas State University student, preferred Lawrence's liberal attitude over Manhattan's.
By Kelly Hollowell
correspondent@kansan.com
Kansan correspondent
"Gay-U" and "K-Straight" are common nicknames at Kansas two largest schools.
The reputations of the University of Kansas and Kansas State University are based on the perceived sexual orientations of each school's student body.
Lawrence and the University are more liberal and accepting of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people than Manhattan and K-State, said Roy Carter. Lawrence resident and former student at both schools.
the queer community.
Although he said many people had this perception, few knew firsthand what the differences and similarities were between both schools regarding attitudes toward
Carter attended K-State as a pre-veterinarian major during the 2000-2001 school year. He moved to Lawrence and became a KU student to pursue creative writing in fall 2001.
A member of the gay community at both schools, he said he understood the differences between the two environments.
Carter joined the universities' respective gay organizations. The University's Queers and Allies and K-State's Queer Straight Alliance both offer services to provide support and promote social activities.
"The differences between the Q & A groups are black and white," he said.
and when Seven or eight people attended each Queer Straight Alliance meeting.
"K-State has just as many gay people as KU. It's just that nobody knows about it."
Leigh Fine
K-State Queer Straight Alliance president
Carter said he thought the percentage of gay to straight people was comparable at each university, but Lawrence's campus was more open-minded.
Carter said, while 50 or more people regularly attended Oueers and Allies meetings.
K-State may not be at the same level now, but Leigh Fine, Queer Straight Alliance president, wants
that to change soon.
"K-State has just as many gay people as KU. It's just that nobody knows about it." Fine said.
Fine experienced this for the first time during a freshman leadership class when the class was discussing gay and lesbian issues. Students used derogatory terms to describe their feelings about the queer community. Fine said he was uncomfortable with the situation and informed the class that he was gay.
His classmates immediately apologized for their comments.
"People would say to me, I don't agree with that lifestyle," he said, "but I still love you as a person."
Three years later, Fine is still enlightening others at K-State with the Queer
Straight Alliance. The group is working hard to promote queer visibility on campus, he said.
Colt Schafer, Leavenworth sophomore, plays a role similar at the University as the Queers and Allies senator
"QSA has experienced a great surge in straight membership," he said.
He said that he was thankful to be here and that the University and Lawrence were a great resource because of their liberal views regarding the queer community.
But Schafer is grounded in reality as well.
Priest turns to God,faith to reach student body
"KU has a lot of tolerance," he said. "But there is still an issue."
Edited by Doyle Murphy and Erin Riffey
By Kaila Williams correspondent@kansan.com Kansan correspondent
The events of the day flashed through Joseph Dang Son Tung's mind once again, turning his stomach into a pool of disgust.
He had been there, watching in silent horror as the priest screamed at a man to leave the church. Son Tung had said nothing as the priest told the man that he would burn in the fires of hell because he was gay.
"Is this what I'm going to become?" he asked himself. "Is this why I've spent the last few years studying to become a priest? To condemn people?"
"No," he said. "God called me to do a better job than this."
One day, on a whim, he attended a small Catholic church in Florida where he was living at the time. Although it was a traditional Catholic mass, Son Tung immediately recognized a difference in the atmosphere of the church. It seemed more open-minded to him, and more focused on God's love instead of his wrath.
"The church turned me off completely," he said. "Seeing priests take money from the church, give it to their family, give to their girlfriend, all of those things just plaved in my mind."
to a better man for Son Tung spent the next few years of his life in limbo, unsure if God had called him to the Catholic faith. At one point, he completely gave up on the idea of becoming a priest.
Son Tung spoke to the priest, and found the man had recently
"Is this why I've spent the last few years studying to become a priest? To condemn people? No. God called me to do a better job than this."
Joseph Dang Son Tung Catholic Apostolic priest
left the Roman Catholic Church after 40 years of service because he disagreed with some of the intolerant views of the faith.
Son Tung found what he had been searching for. He learned that the church was actually Catholic Apostolic, which had split off from the Roman Catholic Church. He inquired about becoming involved in the Church, and a few months later was ordained as a priest in the Catholic Apostolic church.
"Our main goal, our mission is that we preach out to the people the true word that Jesus taught." Son Tung said. "Love your God with all your heart and all your mind, and love one another as yourself."
One month after his ordination, the Son Tung arrived in Lawrence to work at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. He immediately tried to get involved in students' lives at the University of Kansas, no matter what their personal or religious beliefs were.
Son Tung gained access to students through Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., and the Rev. Thad Holcombe, the
ECM campus minister. While it recognizes the Bible passages denomining homosexuality, ECM welcomes everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.
"We take the Bible seriously, but we don't take it literally in terms that we understand it was written in a context," Holcombe said. "One needs to understand that context to be able to understand today what it means because that is a totally different culture."
Son Tung also worked with Queers and Allies to organize a non-denominational night where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students can come together to discuss aspects of religion.
"When Father Dang came to KU, he was really excited about getting something like that going," said Sarah Burris, outreach chairwoman for Queens and Allies.
won't for queues.
Son Tung's arrival was not met with enthusiasm by all. Some people came to him, Bibles in hand, and tried to prove to him that acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle went against God's will.
"I just shocked me," Son Tung said. "Who are you to judge these people? Pick trash out of your own eyes before you pick other people's trash."
Son Tung said religions that condemned homosexuality only encouraged hate and prejudice. Jesus dined with hookers and tax collectors and never judged them, he said.
"Love one another, and if you love them, you have to accept who they are and what they are," he said.
— Edited by Scott Christie
Joseph Dang Son Tung, a Catholic Apostolic priest for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, worked with the Queers and Allies to help gain acceptance of alternative lifestyles. Although many have tried to persuade him otherwise, Son Tung continues to follow his faith.
Homosexual portrayal generates debate on stereotypes
Morgan McBee, Dallas junior, Tina Shine, Urbandale, Iowa, junior, Emilie Guenther, Overland Park junior, Jennifer Schmidt, Wichite junior, Recheal Dietze, Walnut Creek, Calif., all reacted to a man getting his eyebrows waxed on the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The five said they regularly watch the show at their Delta Gamma sorority house, and sometimes sip Sprite out of martini glasses, mimicking the last part of the show.
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
astairrett@kansan.com
astairnan staff writer
At 9 .m. every Tuesday, Emilie Guenther and four of her sorority sisters gather around the television for a weekly ritual.
The five Delta Gammas love to watch the Fab 5 on Bravo's Queen Eye for the Straight Guy, they said
"I think it's hysterical and a lot of fun," Guenther said.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has become the highest-rated show for the 23-year-old cable station. The Sept. 2 episode of Queer Eye finished second among all networks in that time slot in the 18 to 49 age group. It also led all ad-supported cable programs for the entire day. The episode totaled more than three million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The show features five professionals in dining, grooming, design, fashion and culture. Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley and Jai Rodriguez also happen to be gay. The Fab 5 give a heterosexual male tips on how to dress, eat and live better. The straight man also gets advice on how to get or maintain a relationship.
The breakout hit has raised
Margaret Cho, a comedian and actress, said the show was Important for the future of gay television, but posed a question about these perceptions on her Web site www.margaretecho.com.
issues about the portrayal of gays on television, receiving praise and flack from members of the gay community.
Actors portraying gay male characters have broken onto the silver screen in shows such as NBC's Will and Grace, Showtime's Queer As Folk and HBO's Six Feet Under and Sex and the City.
"Why is the idea that gay men, in order to be accepted by mainstream society, have to be really 'good' at something?" she asked.
Reality shows are also featuring gay men, such as Bravo's Boy Meets Boy and CBS's Amazing Race 4, in which a gay couple compete in a race around the world.
Patrick Ross, Queens and Allies director, said the representation of queer people on television was still far behind where it needed to be.
race around Sarah Burris, Queens and Allies outreach chairwoman, said she was uncertain whether she liked Will and Grace because the show reinforced the stereotype that gay men had to look and act a certain way.
They see those images on televi
sion that tell them what they have to be and that isn't right," she said. "Just as it isn't right for young girls to look at Britney Spears and see her as什 they have to become."
Queer As Folk has perhaps raised the most eyebrows — and criticism.
Ross said men on the show were
represented as promiscuous and catty. He said it was not a show he would like straight people to write.
would like straight people be here to "I think they miss the deeper way the show speaks to the queer community — just as I would never be able to understand a TV show about rape in the same way that someone has been through the
experience would," he said.
He added that TV characters were not representative of reality.
Given a choice between watching TV shows that don't incorporate gay lifestyle and watching shows that depicted gay stereotypes, Burris said she would choose the former.
"Network television isn't horrible in the way it portrays the community," she said. "It's when you get into Queer as Folk that it scares me."
Lesbians on television have had less presence than gay males.
Burris liked the relationship between Willow and Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She said they provided good role models for young people.
Burris said she thought gay men were the easiest to portray on television because a majority of situation comedy viewers are women.
"Let's face it, many women love gay men," she said.
When questioned if the exposure for the gay community was worth the negative portrayals, Burris said it was.
"With any exposure at all, you have to realize that people are just people and that is the most important thing to remember," she said.
Ross said all people are stereotyped on television regardless of sexual orientation.
"It's simply a matter of time before queer becomes mainstream, and then we'll all be saying, 'God, not another gay show,'" he said.
- Edited by Neeley Spellmeier