Gordon College

Gordon

When we arrived in the Gordon community/surrounding area, we were greeted with TERRIBLE weather. I thought I was in a monsoon, actually. It poured for hours. We visited a UU church in Danvers, Mass. and participated in a long service with music and speakers.





The next day, we traveled to Harvard Divinity School to meet up with Equality Ride founder, Jake Reitan, and Michael Huffington, a donor and supporter to the Equality Ride.



We then traveled to Gordon College to have dinner with administration and students. The student at my table was super nice and turned out to be a very strong LGBTQ ally.



After dinner, we headed to the chapel for a presentation. The chapel was almost full… I would say at least half of the student body was there, and the student body is about 1,200.
The Equality Riders gave a presentation called “Loving Like Jesus,” and discussed scripture and testimony to support the notion that everyone should love radically like Jesus and reach out to LGBTQs.





After the presentation was over, we went back to the room where we had dinner and met with many students. I talked with (I hope I can get their names right) Bonnie, Joe, Erin, James, and Miles. We talked about how to be a LGBTQ ally, and I expressed how this would take a large effort by straight people to reach out to the Queer community. Because Queers have been marginalized and silenced, it is going to take the majority speaking up and lifting out their arms to help eradicate homophobia.

We returned to the school the next day for another presentation on Spiritual Violence. A sociology professor responded with overwhelming support and discussed how symbolic violence must be present before physical violence occurs. He was also a straight ally.



Afterwards I headed to a philosophy class, which was very odd. The class was discussing Nietzsche, who I know nothing about, except that he said God is dead. A student in the class was presenting on Nietzsche and attempting to use Nietzsche as a tool to discuss a Christian model of The Fall. It made no sense to me…. But maybe it’s because I know nothing about this great philosopher. Then there was an awkward segue to us answering questions about our lives and the Equality Ride.

I learned that the students would be discussing Simone De Beauvoir at their next class and her book, The Second Sex. I talked about how I took a Feminist Philosophy course and studied De Beauvoir briefly. The professor asked me a rather bold question after a student asked us if we thought homosexuality was a choice.

She said, “You know, Amanda, since you’ve studied De Beauvoir that she says that she was not born a woman, but she became a woman. How can you relate this to sexuality?”

I knew where she was going, and I wasn’t buying it. She was implying that “nurture” heavily influenced sexual orientation. I deflected the question and discussed how I felt that gender was largely a social construction, but it was not fruitful to discuss how much nurture or nature was involved in orientation. What was fruitful to discuss, however, was the fact that the students in her class were going to have to graduate and work with someone like me, live next to someone like me, and perhaps have family members who are like me in the future… and they need to know how to deal with that.

I just felt very odd about the entire class, but I was glad to have the opportunity to speak to students in an academic setting.

After the class, we left for lunch and talked with students for the rest of the afternoon in the cafeteria area.



I joined a conversation with Enku and Josh, and ultimately found that the particular student they were talking to felt like a LGB orientation was OK, but having sex while being LGB was not. I relayed to him the importance of having a companion and someone to love. He said that individuals could be in a relationship together and love one another and not have sex. I said that perhaps, yes, but it didn’t make much sense because that would be putting unfair restraints on the relationship, which would keep it from growing to its full potential. AND, this is something we would never expect from a straight couple. His logic, (so common to many of the students we talk to) is really frustrating. I cannot understand how these students think living lonely, celibate lives is a good way to live. *sigh*

We left around 2:30 in the afternoon. I left happy that Gordon allowed us so many venues for discussion on campus, but still sad that I am continually proving my humanity to people. I am still proving that I am not sick and sinful and that my friends aren’t either.

I was also going to try and meet up with Joan, Kourt’s ex-girlfriend while I was in Massachusetts because she lives there, but our schedules and the weather did not allow for it. We have been writing back and forth for a bit, and I think we have created a nice relationship… as nice as it can get over myspace I guess, haha. But, I am grateful for civility and kindness. Perhaps one day we will meet.

I fell asleep on the bus pretty quickly after we left, and when I woke up, I saw snow and freaked out, and went back to sleep.