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Demand Apology from College of DuPage Newspaper Over Anti-Gay Column
  1. Signatures
    511 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Editor (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Editor (Vikaas Shanker)
      • President, Student Leadership Council (Gabriel Gardner)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

The College of DuPage, a two-year community college in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, just published a piece in their student newspaper that argued that gay students -- nay, gay people everywhere -- are not entitled to human rights.

The piece, "Homosexuality is Not a Human Right," was authored by a representative from the group Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (HOME). Ever heard of them? They're just your average, run of the mill fringe group with a web site that says gay people should be forced to use separate public restrooms, and that homosexuality should be classified as a psychological disorder by medical professionals. How very ... 1950s?

So why would a student newspaper at an institute for higher learning decide that it was kosher to run a piece questioning whether gay people deserve human rights? Good question. Send the editor a message and ask what we're all thinking: "WTF?"

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Apology for extreme anti-gay newspaper column

Dear Vikaas Shanker and Gabriel Gardner,

In a recent issue of the College of DuPage's student newspaper, an inflammatory opinion article was published that questioned whether gay people deserve human rights. The article, written by a representative from a fringe group known as Heterosexuals for a Moral Environment (HOME), concluded that gay people do not deserve human rights, and that homosexuality was a decadent lifestyle that would result in destruction.

Is this really the level of discourse that the readers of this newspaper -- the students at your school -- deserve? It's not only offensive to the LGBT students on campus, it's also an article totally unworthy of an institute for higher learning.

I'd urge the student newspaper to issue an apology for running this article. Sure, there should be a free and open debate on issues. But to run an article questioning whether gay people deserve human rights? That's totally abdicating the responsibilities of an editor, and does a disservice to the entire DuPage community.

Thanks for your time.

[Your name]

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