Letters to the Editor

February 7, 2000

Dear Editor:

Some people believe that in the realm of human communication, there is no such thing as a meaningless mistake. The completely illegible photograph which accompanied the article "Professors Discuss Diversity" in the December 8th issue of The Delphian could be a telling example of such a "meaning-ful mistake." 

I was a participant in that faculty workshop on racial and sexual minorities and I gave voice to the viewpoint of gay men. The event was intended to help initiate a dialogue among faculty and begin to sensitize our Adelphi community to the realities of life here for people who are non-white and/or sexually different.  Both the photograph and the article demonstrate a lack of awareness of lesbian and gay consciousness and demonstrate that our Adelphi University community needs to grapple with the hetero-centric mandate which permeates our experience together.

Visually, the photograph was saying that those who are not part of the mainstream are to be made invisible, blotted out from full and equal participation in the life of the University. 

The language of the article is equally revealing. Notice in the sentence above I wrote the word "hetero-centric" rather than "homophobic". This subtle distinction was one of the main points of my presentation at the workshop. 

Heterocentrism is the brazen assumption that our society is a hetero-sexual one: that the values and cultural interpretations are defined by male-female relations; that it is the presumed right of straight people to define the meanings and boundaries of lesbian and gay existence; and that it is somehow reasonable for everyone to assent to the normalization of heterosexualism and the erasure of lesbian and gay culture. Language is one of the tools which is used in that erasure, and this is why the article was offensive. 

Not once in my presentation in the workshop did I use the word "homosexual". Although I consciously and repeatedly referred to "lesbians and gay men" the Delphian chose to translate my Queer-affirmative language into more familiar heterocentric language and translated "lesbians and gay men" into "homosexual". This simple substitution achieved the oppressive goals of heterocentrism which I detailed above, including the erasure of the Queer content of my presentation.

The word "homosexual" is a nineteenth century medical term which was created in order to support institutionalized homophobia. It is used today by people who still refuse to acknowledge that lesbians and gay men have the right to our own self-determination. "Homosexual" belongs to the same word group as "Negro". It may have some technical accuracy, but it won't get you invited to any dinner parties with us.  It is meant to alienate rather then to include. 

"Homosexual" objectifies us Queers. It attempts to disempower and silence lesbian and gay culture by putting us in our place. "Homosexual" says to lesbian and gay men "you are culturally defined by sexual norms in terms created by heterosexualists." Amazingly, after delivering this demeaning message, most unaware straight people will claim that "sexuality doesn't matter," and then wonder why their lip service doesn't win them any real friends in the Queer community.

Our university community often times pretends that there is no problem with racial and sexual minorities and that good intentions cover all shortcomings. That is, I am sorry to say, both hypocritical and a recipe for disaster because it makes communication impossible. It is in the best interests of the commonweal to begin with an honest self-evaluation and admit that the present condition of enforced hetero-centric values is detrimental to our community. That is the beginning of finding the truth which will make us free.

Jerry Tartaglia
Assistant Professor, Film/Video
Department of Communications

An excerpt from Mr. Henry Viscardi, Jr.'s letter to Professor Rachel Mather, which she was kind enough to forward to us.

"Thank you for sending the copy of the Delphian with the moving story of our people Brett Eisenberg, Sarah Cronin, and Joe Arcuelo.  It was great news to me since I have known them over the years they have been with us.  Although we hear from many of them after graduation, it is seldom that we have such a detailed account. Thank you for sharing this article."

Henry Viscardi, Jr.
National Center for Disability Services
Henry Viscardi School

The other letter on the same topic, an e-mail we received from Mr. Javier Arroyo:

To Joe and the Delphian Staff,

Hello Joe, I am writing this letter to let you know about my lack of understanding about a friendly little blind man that used to live in Chapman Hall back when I attended Adelphi (92-97).  He was there if I remember correctly from about 93-95.  Though I never asked him his name nor got into any conversations I always went out of my way to say hello and hold doors open for him.  My own fears kept me from conversing, as though I did not want to offend him asking about his disability. I was afraid because of my own ignorance about people with disabilities.

This brings me to my point. I was very moved by your article.  As an alumni I am very proud that you chose Adelphi to help you reach your goals.  It is exciting to hear that campus has the necessary access to help you get around.  It is a great success for Adelphi to have you, Sarah, and Brett as part of the University.

I hope you guys can teach other students what I wasn't and haven't been taught yet in my life.  How to come to a peaceful understanding about people with disabilities.

I wish you guys the best of luck in your stay at Adelphi.
Javier