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Ask Cornell Student Newspaper to Apologize for "Homosexuality = Eating Disorder" Column
  1. Signatures
    290 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Columnist (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Columnist (Elisabeth Rosen)
      • Editor in Chief (Keenan Weatherford)
  2. Created By
    Change.org
About this Petition Petition Letter

In a recent ethics column in Cornell University's student newspaper, an ethics columnist suggested to a questioning student that she ought to out herself to all of her housemates, because homosexuality might make her roommates uncomfortable. In doing so, the columnist compared homosexuality to an eating disorder, and suggested that when people come out of the closet, they should take other people's feelings into consideration over their own.

"Everyone has secrets. Your roommate might not know how to put in a tampon, or the skinniest girl on campus might have secret Twinkie binges every night. But these secrets don't affect anyone else, while yours does," writes the ethics columnist. "Some girls might have chosen to live in the sorority house because they don't want to live with guys who could be checking them out, and even if you don't have a crush on any specific girl...your sexual orientation would make them uncomfortable. It would be just as unethical for you to 'pretend to be straight' to avoid discomfort as it would be for a guy to get breast implants in order to land a sweet single in [an all-female dorm]."

This type of advice coming from an ethics columnist is unhelpful, and potentially dangerous. The coming out process is an emotional time for anyone, and first and foremost should be the safety and mental health of the person coming out.

But instead of giving that kind of advice, Cornell's newspaper affirmed some homophobic stereotypes about gay people preying on members of the same-sex, and suggested that the primary motivation for someone coming out ought to be other people's potential homophobia. Unhelpful.

Send Cornell's student newspaper a message that this type of advice is unhelpful, and that they should strive to make sure all students, regardless of their sexual orientation, are afforded a measure of dignity. Comparing homosexuality to eating disorders, or emphasizing snark over sound advice, just isn't helpful.

Recent Signatures

Ethics column on coming out

Dear Cornell Daily Sun,

This week, your ethics column featured some advice for a student struggling with their sexual orientation. In response to a student's question about coming out to her roommates, Cornell's ethics columnist said:

"Everyone has secrets. Your roommate might not know how to put in a tampon, or the skinniest girl on campus might have secret Twinkie binges every night. But these secrets don’t affect anyone else, while yours does. Some girls might have chosen to live in the sorority house because they don’t want to live with guys who could be checking them out, and even if you don’t have a crush on any specific girl, you’re right that your sexual orientation would make them uncomfortable. It would be just as unethical for you to “pretend to be straight” to avoid discomfort as it would be for a guy to get breast implants in order to land a sweet single in Balch. No matter what the motivation, placing your roommates in a situation that could potentially make them very uncomfortable if they knew the truth is just not ethical."

While I'm certain the intention here wasn't to fuel homophobic stereotypes or give unsound advice, I have considerable problems with the advice given in this paragraph. For starters, the opening lines compare homosexuality to an eating disorder, which isn't entirely appropriate in any regard.

But beyond that, the coming out process is a delicate process for millions of people, particularly youth and young adults. When someone comes out for the first time, the priority shouldn't be on "how will this make other people feel," but rather on the safety and self-confidence of the questioning person.

Again, while I understand that this ethics column wasn't intended to be homophobic, I believe it was inadequate in addressing such a serious issue, and could leave the impression in the minds of questioning students that something is wrong with them.

Thank you for your time.

[Your name]

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