I’ve discovered at least one fan

Most of my columns as editor of The Daily Reveille didn’t make me the most popular man on campus. Actually, they probably made me one of the most disliked people. But last week, I discovered a blog post showing my work at the college daily did garner me one fan.

As editor of a paper at a fairly conservative campus, I tried to bring up issues that were foreign to many of our readers. One of the columns cited in the blog post has to deal with circumcision, and how in a way, it strips the baby boy of a personal choice.

It started with this:

Every day, smiling men and women slice off newborns’ foreskins – a process rarely questioned and of little benefit.

Doesn’t anyone think of the children?

Just because foreskin is not needed to survive, it does not mean it should be cut off at birth. Why not take a single kidney out of each newborn?

It violates human rights, and parents should stop an outdated tradition and cease circumcising their children at birth. Parents should let their sons decide when they reach the age of maturity.

I just didn’t write about circumcision. During the course of the year, gay issues surfaced on several occasions. It started in September, when an anti-gay column we ran caused a campus outcry, which led to a gay debate/forum the following week. About 300 people attended the forum, and following the column’s publication, we received at least 100 letters to the editor. I commented several times during the year. The first was a defense of the column. I allowed publication of the column, which used some strong language, because I felt it was a valid opinion, in who would I be to stifle it.

At the start of the new semester, I thought it would be fitting to show we have columnists on both sides of the issue. I wrote a column calling for acceptance of gay people into society.

It started with this:

It’s 2008, and our society still has made few strides to accepting everyone irrespective of their sexual orientation.

Complete acceptance of the gay community looms somewhere in the horizon, but we can get there sooner if we demand fairness.

And at the close of the semester, I wrote another column for our Graduation Guide. Gov. Bobby Jindal was the commencement speaker, and I decided it was an opportunity to show how the state and Jindal have denied minorities of some of their rights. I cited the events in Jena and Jindal’s refusal to re-sign an executive order that protects gay people in the workplace as examples. I felt LSU, as Louisiana’s main and largest university, should serve as a “beacon of equality and tolerance.”

Change will happen either way — it always does. But Louisiana could be the pioneer.

Imagine if the state proved its racist past is limited to history books. Or if the state protected all people, no matter who they wanted to call their partner. Just imagine.

But we’re far from equality, and our own university has its obstacles to hurdle, too. LSU does not offer domestic partnership benefits to its employees. Tiger fans still celebrate their LSU heritage by flying a purple-and-gold Confederate flag, a symbol that is offensive to many.

But Louisiana and LSU have a chance for something better in the future. The past two gubernatorial elections have shown all Louisiana residents have a shot at governor. Louisiana elected its first woman governor and the nation’s first Indian-American governor in recent years.

Louisiana was the 18th state to add “sexual orientation” to its hate crimes law when the state Legislature passed a revised version in 1997.

I plan to leave Louisiana in a week. Finding a job here is tough, and the state’s reputation for being dominated by prejudice and racism is one reason why job opportunities are so sparse.

But I hope this state will improve. Louisiana is a special place, and LSU could set an example the rest of the state could follow.

Louisiana needs a movement, one that will push for hope of a better future — no matter your color or who you love. For all of those who must overcome adversity, don’t settle for tolerance. Fight for equality.

I’m glad the blogger found some of my stuff. I wrote the columns not to appease the 28,000 students of LSU, but with hope to see change. Who ever knows if there will be change, but it was at least worth a try.

Note: The Daily Reveille’s Web site has migrated to an updated version of College Publisher. Because of the move, the archives are still not working. So the links to the columns aren’t working right now. It’s a pain