After ordering a Pride month sign be taken down from outside the university library, the president of the University of Central Arkansas is pushing back against accusations of homophobia.
Last week, University President Houston Davis ordered a sign quoting Lady Gaga be removed from the school’s library, claiming it advocated “a personal viewpoint” that could potentially corrupt the minds of young children.
The sign was posted by staff members of the university’s Torreyson Library and read: “Being gay is like glitter. It never goes away. — Lady Gaga.”
When Davis got wind of it, he demanded the sign be removed.
How about we take this to the next level?
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In an email to faculty, staff, and students sent earlier this week, Davis explained that the sign was “not okay” because it was being used to “advocate for a personal viewpoint” that he believed crossed a line.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he brought up a summer band camp currently happening on campus which is attended by impressionable secondary school students from the area.
“We have to be very mindful of the hundreds of minors that are on campus during the summer,” he wrote, adding that the university needed to be mindful about “how to present or represent issues when minors are on the campus.”
Because, evidently, being gay is an “issue,” and God forbid children learn gay people exist in the world!
Not surprisingly, a public relations nightmare ensured.
Today, Davis sent a follow-up email to university faculty, staff, and students hoping to clarify things.
He begins by saying he was “very sorry” for how his initial email came across, then states that the university is “absolutely committed to supporting our LGBTQ students and our entire campus community.”
“Nothing about the communication yesterday was meant to imply that minors should not be exposed to the LGBTQ community,” Davis adds. “This is absolutely not how that was intended, but a great deal of feedback has made it clear that some interpretations led to that conclusion.”
(Um, when you say things like “We have to be mindful of the hundreds of minors that are on campus” while talking about censoring a sign about LGBTQ equality, how else is that supposed to be interpreted?)
Davis continues: “I also want to address the conclusion that some have come to that, because of this event, UCA does not value, support, and protect our LGBTQ community. That is simply not true.”
He then offers a list of the LGBTQ events and offerings at the university, of which there are many, adding that “You will find me at many of these events, supporting our students and their programs.”
Davis concludes by saying he doesn’t feel the accusations being made against him are fair.
“While I know not to take the criticism personally,” Davis writes, “my professional record and the record of my leadership team does not merit some of the names that are being hurled nor the label of anti-LGBTQ.”
OK, OK. We’re willing to give Davis the benefit of the doubt here. This is likely a case of another straight, white dude in a position of power who was blinded by his own privilege, not by homophobia.
But hopefully this experience has helped to enlighten him on how his words and actions may be interpreted by other non-straight, non-white people who exist in the same world as him. Because Lady Gaga’s right. Being gay is like glitter. It never goes away.
No word yet on whether the Pride sign will be allowed to go back up.
Related: University president demands pro-gay sign be removed, says it’s a bad influence on minors
Cam
So even seeing that gay people exist would be horrible for children but the guy says he isn’t a homophob.
Ok, sure…..gotcha.
montemalone
maybe he’s allergic to glitter?
Kangol2
But free speech!?
Jared MacBride
The sign was put up by his employees, he ordered them to take it down. The First Amendment is not applicable in employer-employee situations.
Kangol2
They’re at a public university, not a private university. The employees’ public speech is Constitutiionally protected. Also, to appease the far right, Drumpf just signed an executive order pushing “free speech” on college campuses that, I assume, receive federal funds. University of Central Arkansas is one of those. Sounds like right-wing political correctness to me.
Sam6969
I do not know if the University President is homophobic, but the quote does not state a proved fact. Sexual orientation could be fluid too (not only sexual behavior). I used to think it was fixed in the childhood and teenage years, but I talked to a few people that told me their sexual orientation did actually change in their adulthood. They were adamant that they were true to themselves before and after the change occurred. It is also reported by psychiatrists such as Stéphane Clerget. We tend conceptually to simplify human sexuality too much. So, yes what Lady Gaga said IS a viewpoint, particularly also since it is not proved.
lcandela123
rubbish
Sam6969
Thanks for your input.
Now, educate yourself by reading the chapter “sexual fluidity” on Wikipedia.
Doug
People like this always seem to find a way to rationalize their bigotry.
RoughRugger
“I can’t be a homophobe, I attend lots of gay events!”
twospirit
GEEZ LOUISE!! If someone looks like a duck and walks like a duck….using “impressionable minors” as a reason to take down the sign? Give me a break….
Kit McCollum
The University president’s order to remove the sign is just as personal a statement as he perceived the sign to be. Double standard, anyone??
montegutdude
Def not a homophobe. He just thinks if kids see the word ‘gay’ used in a sentence, it might corrupt their minds. Makes perfect sense.
Man, I sure hope there aren’t too many gay UCA students studying in the library at the time of the visit. You know if those pesky gay students are out lookin’ a little too gay in public for the young’uns, maybe President Davis can cover them with blankets until the children move past.
lcandela123
Not sure why he got his panties in a twist in the first place. The sign was hardly objectionable; really just a clever truism. How he can state with a straight face (I guess, literally) that this would be harmful to high school students? That is utterly ridiculous. Lastly, the sign doesn’t “advocate for a personal viewpoint”. It is not an opinion that gay doesn’t go away, it is a scientific fact.