 "Photo:")
In the three years I have been working at the Emerald, I have never once shied away from honestly expressing my opinions. I think this is a good thing -- the world would be a better place if people would be more upfront with each other about what they think is right and wrong.
I'm about to do it again, although it may not be an answer some of our readers want to hear. So what's the question? Well, on Friday, we printed a guest commentary by Vincent Martorano ("Homosexual men should hide their disgusting acts") that has created a bit of a ruckus.
I have received e-mails and phone calls about the piece, some supportive and others admonishing me for printing it. For the record, I directly decide what to print on the Commentary page every day. So far this year, we haven't rejected any submissions based on content.
Before I gave it the go-ahead, I scrutinized Martorano's piece and gave extensive thought to the pros and cons of running it. The arguments I've heard against publishing the piece run like this: It was homophobic, it creates an environment for hate crimes, it was poorly argued, it was a personal attack -- and we would never have run the piece if it picked on some other group, such as people of color.
I considered those issues, and in this particular case, I respectfully disagree. I am gay, I have been the target of homophobic violence, and I agree that our community standards shouldn't include allowing people to express hatred toward any individual group.
However, Martorano's piece does not rise to that level. He does not express hatred or include any sort of call to action against homosexuals (whether a physical attack, a legislative change or anything else); rather, he offers his own opinions about homosexuality -- that it is morally wrong, and as such, that seeing it displayed publicly offends him.
Do I disagree with him? Absolutely. There are logical holes in his argument, and I think his opinion displays an incredible amount of ignorance. But it isn't my place as a newspaper editor to say he doesn't have the right to say it in public.
Actually, I am offended by the number of open-minded, tolerant people who have said that Martorano should have been silenced. I would agree if he had told others to be violent. Interestingly, we received two items of feedback on our Web site suggesting violence against Martorano. Even if in jest, such suggestions are inappropriate, and as soon as I discovered them, I removed them.
I readily acknowledge there is a fine line between hate speech and one's personal disapproval of others. It's a difficult rope on which to balance, but the U.S. Supreme Court has set a high bar for determining what qualifies as hate speech, and I agree with that principle. (For a further discussion of this issue, see the American Civil Liberties Union's "Hate Speech on Campus" at http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=9004&c=87).
I am a big fan of John Stuart Mill. One of my favorite parts of his "On Liberty" is Chapter IV, where he talks about the proper authority of the public to legislate or disapprove of personal conduct. While we should not have the right to make illegal personal conduct that does not involve others, Mill argues, we have the right, and perhaps the duty, to tell people when we think their behavior is wrong.
That's the joy of this entire situation. Here's an opportunity to express to the community different, contrasting opinions about homosexuality. So step forward and tell Martorano that he is wrong. Educate him, make friends with him, tell him his ideas are ignorant -- if that's what you believe.
But please don't say I should have told him he wasn't allowed to express his opinion. After three years of speaking my mind on the Commentary page, I would have been hypocritical to do so.
P.S. Letters and guest commentaries about this topic are forthcoming, and many of them were written before I wrote this column, so they aren't necessarily engaging my argument directly.
Contact the editor in chief
at editor@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
Be the first to comment on this article!