Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, May 9, 2005
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■ In my opinion
More than MAN MEETS WOMAN
Jury selection begins today for a sec
ond trial in the murder of Gwen Araujo,
a 17-year-old biological male who had
lived her life as female from age 14.
Gwen was tortured and killed more
than two years ago after her group of
friends discovered her biological iden
tity. The two men allegedly responsible
for Gwen’s death apparently had con
tinual sexual contact with her in the
months preceding her murder.
Remember these facts as we move to
a related facet of this story.
It is my belief that one key reason for
the presence of homophobia among
men is the fear of being placed in a sex
ually passive position. In heterosexual
romancing, most people abide by (or at
least find themselves deeply en
trenched within) the social norm of
male as initiator, female as receiver. It is
socially acceptable and normal for men
to approach women, shower them with
sexual flattery and take the initiative to
make plans for the future.
Although there is nothing inherent
ly better or worse about being in ei
ther position, it is often scary to be in
a more passive sexual role, especially
living in a culture in which masculine
sexuality is so intense. If a woman at
the bar is approached by a man in
whom she has no sexual interest, the
situation becomes one of fear when
the male initiator continues to act to
ward her in a sexual manner. Sudden
ly, instead of considering how she can
get away from this drunk loser and go
talk to the cute guy hovering by the
door, all her thoughts aim toward
guarding herself from sexuality,
specifically the sexuality of the un
wanted initiator but also by default
her own sexual feelings.
Although this woman may have
started her night excited to get to
gether with someone, a relentless
bar fly full of cheap pick-up lines has
quickly turned her evening into one
filled with fear of sexual assault
AILEE SLATER
FURTHER FROM PERFECTION
rather than anticipation of an enjoy
able sexual experience.
Now imagine being that woman
every day, as every form of mainstream
media shoves male sexuality down
your throat.
It’s hard to put yourself into that
mindset if you are America’s domi
nant gender or sexuality. Just as
most gay women can never fully un
derstand the intricacies of straight
male sexuality, few straight men can
truly grasp the delicate line women
must toe between experiencing and
protecting our sexuality.
Unless you think about it in terms of
homophobia.
For the most part, it seems to me
there are two types of homophobia in
the United States. The first is a larger,
institutional homophobia, usually
based on religious teachings or a con
servative culture. The Catholic
Church’s reluctance to condone gay
marriage is one example of this brand.
The second type occurs at a more
personal level and is often from straight
men toward gay men. You’ve probably
heard homophobic comments coming
from straight men who are uncomfort
able with homosexuality because they
don’t want gay men hitting on them.
Though they may be liberally minded
in every other facet of life and OK with
homosexuality in general, the idea of
another man expressing a sexual inter
est in them inspires the deepest sense
of anger and fear. This anger and fear is
exactly what most heterosexual
women cope with at every stage of
their sexual lives: It comes from a place
of not having autonomy over sexual
thoughts, desires and actions because
the sexuality of someone else is getting
in the way.
This brings us back to the subject
of Gwen Araujo, or, more accurately,
the men who murdered her. Gwen
was not murdered because she was a
biological male pretending to be fe
male; Gwen was murdered because
she engaged in sexual contact with
her killers under false pretenses. If her
killers had spotted a transgender per
son on the street, would they have
been so offended as to strangle him or
her and attack that person with a skil
let? Unlikely. The people most bent on
harming Gwen were the people with
whom she had sexual contact.
The anger of those men is under
standable. Sexuality is a personal and
precious thing, and it’s disturbing to
feel that one’s sexual life has been en
trenched in deception. Sexuality is a
powerful force and losing control of
that is one of the most frightening ex
periences a human can undergo.
What is not understandable is the
actions of the murderers in relation to
that anger. TYagically, those young
men determined that the only way to
reclaim their sexuality was through
the murder and degradation of anoth
er human being. Also tragic is the
presence of any and all hate crimes
based on sex and gender, so many of
which occur as knee-jerk responses
from heterosexual men afraid of los
ing their highly coveted role as social
controllers of sexuality.
Until culture undergoes a serious
revolution, let’s at least hope the up
coming trial will let Gwen Araujo’s
killers know sexual control has to do
with everyone’s right to sexual autono
my and that murdering Gwen was a
step in exactly the wrong direction.
aileeslater@dailyemerald. com
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■ Editorial
Mayor kelps
distinguish
line between
church, state
The editorial board commends Eugene
Mayor Kitty Piercy for deciding to bow out of
the annual Eugene-Springfield Mayors’ Prayer
Breakfast, to be held this year at the Eugene
Hilton. In a time when the line between
church and state has been blurred and reli
gious acceptance has been narrowed, Piercy
has shown true strength in the face of hun
dreds of complaints from local residents.
At a West University Neighbors meeting
Thursday evening, Piercy said she wanted to
represent people of all religious beliefs, a prin
ciple that has guided her leadership in other
public positions for years. In addition, Piercy
said attending the June breakfast would
weaken the separation between church and
state. The decision contrasts with Springfield
Mayor Sid Leiken’s readiness to give the wel
come at the breakfast, which is sponsored by
private Christian citizens but not sanctioned
by the city. Leiken has cited his self-described
“corny” rationale for attending the breakfast:
He believes in American freedoms, and he’s
not going to give those up just because he
holds a public office.
We strongly disagree with Leiken’s shallow
evaluation of this event and of his position.
If a mayor, as the leader of a city’s policies
and growth, attends an event sponsored by a
certain religious group that says it believes
“there’s room for spiritual substance in the
political dialogue,” he or she is showing an
openness to something that has caused very
real religious strife in this city and in this
country. Once elected to a public office, an of
ficial has the duty to represent his or her citi
zens to the best of his or her ability. When a
mayor believes it is unimportant to sacrifice
some personal beliefs to better serve his or
her constituents in an unbiased fashion, that
person shouldn’t take on the profound duties
of an elected office.
Piercy has not shown disregard for the
prayers of the people of Eugene, as she has
been publicly accused of doing. Instead, she
has presented a genuine sensitivity and sense
of sacrifice and duty for the greater good of
Eugene’s diverse array of residents.
■ Out loud
“I appreciate any citizen’s desire to pray on
behalf of our community, but I don’t think
such a prayer breakfast should appear to have
government sponsorship or any religious
point of view.” — Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy
on Tuesday discussing her decision not to
attend the Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast.
“My concern about the Mayors’ Prayer
Breakfast is the very title of it. ” — Piercy at
Thursday’s West University Neighbors
meeting.
“The beautiful thing about the United
States is we are a melting pot, and we have
this freedom of religion.” — Springfield
Mayor Sid Leiken on Tuesday discussing
his decision to attend the Mayors’ Prayer
Breakfast.
“We just want to support the cities and
mayors. It’s not a plot; it’s some well-mean
ing individuals who believe there’s room for
spiritual substance in the political dialogue.”
— Clayton Walker, a Mayors’ Prayer
Breakfast organizer, on the goals of putting on
the event.
— From Register-Guard
and Daily Emerald reports