Letter to the Editor: Homophobia at Hopkins

To the Editor:

I recently witnessed an instance of homophobia on campus which disturbed me and made me fearful for the prospective students welcomed onto campus that same day. I am writing to highlight the fact that small daily interactions accumulate to construct a campus culture and to ask students to take responsibility for creating a culture of acceptance at Hopkins.

On my way to class on Thursday morning, I watched as one of two students ahead of me plucked one of the rainbow flags planted around the grassy perimeters of Keyser Quad. He waved it in the face of his friend, who shouted “get that gay stuff away from me!” The student with the flag inserted it into his friend’s backpack pocket and snapped a picture with his iPhone. The other snatched the flag from his bag, held it limply, and then began to flit around with his wrists flopping and his gait loosened and swinging. The two men were mocking gay people using LGBTQ materials posted on campus.

As a gay man and a student here at Hopkins, witnessing this interaction both made my blood boil and my heart drop. In general, I have felt completely supported in all aspects of my identity—including my sexuality—here at Hopkins. At an administrative level, I have participated in and been impressed by events that Hopkins hosts to support its LGBTQ community, including the B’More Proud Conference with Zach Wahls this spring and the reception for the launch of the LGBTQ Life program last fall. On an individual level, my classmates have not blinked an eye when I tell them that I am gay, and they have supported me as they would any other friend. Being gay is one way that I am different, but many of us at Hopkins are different in some way, whether it be for speaking two native languages or researching as a woman engineer. Hopkins has generally felt like a place where difference is accepted, including my own.

That is why, perhaps, I found the interaction I observed so upsetting. I wish I could spend an hour with both of those students so that they would get to know me. They would learn that my masculinity is important to me and that I prize my identity as a man. They would learn that, contrary to their stereotyped image of a flitting fairy, most gay people must find a source of tremendous courage and strength in themselves to come out and live authentically, which often means alienation from religions, cultural institutions, and sometimes even families. We are not pansies—we are brave people who have fought hard from a young age to be where we are. Unfortunately, because of attitudes like the ones displayed by these students, we must continue to explain and stand up for ourselves on a daily basis, since many corners of the world still think there is something fundamentally wrong, weak, or inferior about who we are and how we love.

I am troubled deeply by the use of homophobic slurs and the type of foolery I witnessed that morning. This language and behavior is frequently used by men as a way of monitoring masculinity and punishing any perceived deviations from it. The first problematic aspect of this teasing is that it conflates femininity with homosexuality, a false assumption. An individual’s experience and expression of their gender does not dictate the gender of those they are attracted to. It is reductive to assume that if you know someone’s sexual orientation you also know other aspects of their gender expression or personality. The second issue with using homophobic language to deride others is that, by equating homosexuality with femininity and then using it as an insult, it reifies the fallacious belief that femininity is worse or weaker than masculinity. It is a reminder that homophobia can be a symptom of the misogyny and sexism in the world. What is wrong about being gay is that it means you date men, and people who date men are feminine, and being feminine is worse than being masculine, the thinking goes.  Are we not past this simplistic thinking yet?

I hope that, if that photo resurfaces and is used to mock gay people, someone in the room will politely say that they are an ally of LGBTQ people and do not appreciate that type of humor. I hope that no prospective students enjoying their SOHOP experience saw the upsetting interaction I witnessed on the morning after their sleepover. As a Hopkins community, we must project a strong image of prizing the identity of our minority students, not deriding them on the central quad of campus. Please take a kind but firm stand against these instances of homophobia when you witness them. Hopkins should be a place where current and prospective students feel welcome and never suffer disrespect of their minority identities. Though the general attitude here has felt supportive, these seemingly small interactions mean a great deal to those affected by them. Official organizations are an important part of a campus culture, but the mundane, quotidian behavior of individuals also contributes to that culture. My experience showed me that we have yet to achieve a fully supportive culture on this campus, a goal that we must constantly keep in sight. I hope this letter is another step in the positive, necessary direction toward our goal.

Thank you,

Robert (Bob) Weatherford