Editorial: For Shame

The beauty of the university experience is the open forum for ideas it affords its students. But as the CSUS community discovered yesterday upon finding the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Sacramento (BGLAS) pro-gay rights messages defaced by an anonymous homophobe, it can double as a forum for prejudice and hatred.

While we support the individual(s)' First Amendment rights to air their opinions in a public forum such as CSUS, their refusal to claim responsibility for their beliefs is an act of cowardice and fear. Why must they hide behind the black curtain of their hatred when they obviously felt strongly enough to make it public?

CSUS should be outraged and morally ashamed that hatred like this exists, especially as we count down the days until the arrival of a new century that offers endless possibilities for human understanding. If we don't counteract and attempt to eliminate bigotry, we effectively create an environment in which it flourishes.

While the Hornet realizes that the perpetrator's views are not representative of the entire student body, it's a chilling reminder that prejudice extends its hardened hand throughout society, especially in light of the anti-gay hate crime that recently occurred in Wyoming.

CSUS is a place where hatred has no place.