DSAGA controversy remains unresolved

Months after the Carrollton Record, a conservative student publication at Hopkins, first published a controversial article suggesting that the Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (DSAGA) used university funds to host a transgender-pornography director to speak, the uproar over first-amendment rights and student privacy issues has continued despite the case being closed by University officials.

The Carrollton Record published its article on the event entitled "Deepthroating Hopkins: How your tuition hike pays for gay porn," written by executive editor Jered Ede. In addition to including on its cover pictures of DSAGA members taken from Facebook, the popular social networking Web site, the magazine alleged that LaRue distributed pornography to members of the audience that included minors.

The day after its distribution on May 17, however, copies of the publication were removed from residence halls by university administration. The Carrollton Record claimed that it had been unjustly censored and that its publication had been "seized" due to its content. University officials, however, maintained that the move was in fact not a seizure and that the copies were returned to the Carrollton Record's office because they were in violation of the Office of Residential Life's rules for distributing material

that the copies were returned to The Carrollton Record but maintains that copies in the MSE library were also confiscated.

"Within 24 hours, every copy that we had placed in the MSE library had disappeared and the copies we had placed in the dorms disappeared," he said.

Dennis O'Shea, executive director of communications and public affairs, asserted that university administrators removed copies only from the residence halls and then returned them to Ede and his staff the following day. The director of residential life, Shelly Fickau, who ordered the removal, would not comment.

DSAGA complaints withdrawn

After the publication of Ede's article, a DSAGA member filed and later withdrew a complaint against The Carrollton Record with Caroline Laguerre-Brown, director for compliance and conflict resolution of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.

According to the student, "The reason I withdrew the complaint was because the Director for Compliance said that if I did not, she would be forced to dismiss it. She said that upper administration had tied her hands and there was no way they would let her find in my favor. She said it would look better if I dropped it. She said if the complaint was dismissed, it would give them a sense of righteousness."

Laguerre-Brown refused to comment when contacted.

O'Shea insisted that the office of equal opportunity did indeed contact The Carrollton Record for their side of the story but before a formal investigation could be initiated, the complaint was withdrawn and the case was closed.

Matthew Viator, director of administration at DSAGA said that DSAGA would still try to pursue legal action for what they have called blatant harassment.

"The pictures on the cover...were obtained via Facebook in direct violation of the website's proprietary rights. We are currently deliberating legal action against [Jared Ede]. There are leaders in the community who find this as offensive as we do. We can also sue Facebook for punitive damages," he said.

Event's content under question

Viator, explained that DSAGA had invited the director, Chi Chi LaRue, to address the rise and curtailing of the AIDS crisis in the late 80s and early 90s.

"Chi Chi LaRue singe handedly got the entirety of the adult film industry to go condoms-only. He is also one of the most prolific philanthropists for AIDS charities," he said.

LaRue described his message to the group was very low key.

"It was a very lighthearted night. I talked a lot about safer sex, to always use condoms. It wasn't political and it wasn't anything dramatic. My safe sex message that I have been toting since I got into this business is one of the reasons they had me there," he said

DSAGA has labeled the article as a fabrication of what really occurred and constitutive of harassment of its members.

"Jered's article bears very little resemblance to reality at all. There is nothing here but prejudice and hatred. There is no honor in making up lies, reporting untruthfully what happened just for the sheer purpose of slandering and trying to cheaply sway the public's view," said Matthew Viator, director of administration at DSAGA.

The Office of Student Involvement signed the contract to allow Chi Chi LaRue's appearance at the DSAGA event. Associate Dean of Students, Ralph Johnson explained, "We signed the contract not as our statement of our approval or disapproval of the speaker. We simply made sure that the mechanics of the contract are such that they are applicable to the laws of the state of Maryland and that all university policies are adhered to."

Along with criticizing the use of university money to fund LaRue, Ede claimed in his article that the event was not effectively censored from minors.

Viator refutes Ede's claims, saying the high school students who entered were in fact Hopkins undergraduates. Viator said, "We were aware of everyone who came into the building. The two people that he fingers as the high school students that wandered in were two Hopkins sophomores who are now juniors."

LaRue added, "I was told by the people at Johns Hopkins University that everyone there was of age, 18 and over. That was their job to make sure everyone in there was 18 or older, and when I gave away movies, I made sure they were of age."

Although LaRue did distribute pornographic films at the end of his speech, Viator clarified that university money was not used to buy them. Viator said, "We did not pay [LaRue] to distribute pornography. We paid him a speaker fee. It is also the discretion of the students involved as to whether or not they would take it."

Rob Reimer, director of marketing and special events at LaRue's company Channel 1 Releasing, also confirmed that an ID check was performed when the pornography was distributed. Reimer said, "We did not distribute adult materials to anyone who was under 18. We checked IDs."

Aside from censorship of his publication, Ede also complained of allowances made to DSAGA by the Student Activities Commission (SAC). The SAC does not require DSAGA to submit a roster of its members, a rule that Ede feels could be more universally applied.

Viator said, "The university has always honored our privacy, because of lunatics like Jered. That's why we've never had to submit a roster of members, because people like Ede exist."

"We fund the groups based on a particular formula that we have. We wouldn't say to them how they should spend their money when it comes to who they bring to campus as speakers. All groups have that autonomy," Johnson explained.

Ede went on to criticize the University for having coursework available on gender and sexuality issues besides providing funding for DSAGA.

"The [university's] mission is to provide instruction and education of an academic nature. I believe that the university's path is heading them down to a point where they are violating their own mission statement. We have 5 or 6 times as many classes that deal directly with sex, homosexuality, gender, or `Sex and Rock and Roll in Ancient Egypt' than we do that deal directly with World War I or even the Civil War. I think that violates the university's mission statement to provide us with a quality education," he said.

Dorothy Sheppard, associate dean of students, explained the university's stance on harassment issues and censorship.

"We investigate any and all situations regarding harassment. We then discuss with all students involved and decide the best cours of action. Often times it is me handling the situation but other times it may go to the board," she said.

"It is a fine line between censorship and protection. As educators we try to do outreach to the students invovled and let them know how certain topics can be harmful to other students on campus. We try to be as fair as possible without limiting the speech of others," she added.