Gay Acceptance and Diversity at UVA

Students in front of UVA's main library

From time to time my Alma mater does me proud.  It has changed greatly since I first started at the University of Virginia ("UVA") more than 40 years ago and by some estimations is among Virginia's most progressive universities despite its often preppy image.  Even back in my day there was an LGBT student group not that I ever had the courage to admit to myself that I was gay much less attend a meeting.  Now, a story in Out Sports underscores just how far things have come - it's a message that the Virginia GOP needs to wake up to.  Here are highlights and some photos:

What is diversity? Students at the University of Virginia wanted to show that it is more than a buzzword and to make the campus more inclusive. Along those lines, three students created an awesome Tumblr, "We Are All UVa," where students took photos holding placards talking about their experiences, good or bad.

Parker Camp, a varsity swimmer who told his coming out story on Outsports last month, saw the Tumblr and got inspired. He got four teammates to come up with this terrific photo:

 

 

The other gay swimmer is open and comfortable on the team but did not want publicity, so we are not identifying him. Nor are we going to tell you who is gay or straight, since not caring is the whole point of what the athletes did with the photo. Swimmer Brad Phillips said this to Outsports:

"Taking the photo with them was the least I could do to prove to them that our friendships are unaffected by their coming out.  But I'm pretty sure the only reason Parker asked to hold the sign was to hide how fat he's become since our season ended!"

"We Are All UVa," modeled after a similar project at Harvard, is really wonderful and worth your time. As one of the creators told the campus newspaper: "Diversity includes the differences we can't see. It's more than race and ethnicity. ... Diversity is meant to be [an] inclusive concept; the point of challenging it is that it can be a very polarizing conversation."

No doubt, if Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation, Christofascist dominatrix to the Virginia GOP, has gotten wind of this effort she will be acting as if someone peed (or worse) in her Cheerios!  I also enjoyed these photos:

Click image to enlarge

Kudos to these students at UVA!!

Hypocrites Need to Lay Off Michael Phelps

UPDATED: A petition taking Kelloggs to task for firing Michael Phelps has sprung up. To read/sign the petition go here.

*

I am not one to typically weigh into issues involving sports. Other than enjoying surfing, sailing, water skiing and ski skiing, I largely missed out on getting the sports gene. But the BS going on over Michael Phelps' bong photo is getting to be off the charts in terms of hypocrisy. Beginning with Kelloggs (whose products I will now avoid purchasing) - which has dropped Phelps' endorsement - the hypocrisy and cases of false vapors over a kid like Phelps perhaps using a little marijuana is nauseating. In my generation, anyone who claims that they did not try out marijuana is either lying, was/is a religious nutcase or was such an incredible dork that they were in social exile. I suspect the same has more or less held true in over the intervening years since my youth.

*

Could it be that some of the feigned outrage is that someone like Phelps using marijuana dispels the fabricated myth that marijuana necessarily leads to other drug use or impairs one's ability to function at high levels? Moreover, I'm sorry, but where was the outrage from these same folks when we had a president and vice president ordering war crimes activities in violation of the Geneva Conventions? Now, Phelps - who has done so much to boost interest in swimming - is debating whether or not he will swim in the 2012 Olympics. All because sanctimonious hypocrites have their panties in a wad. It's about time that people and the drug laws on marijuana came into reality. Here are some highlights from the Baltimore Sun:

*

In his first interview since a photo surfaced showing him smoking from a marijuana pipe, Michael Phelps said yesterday that the intense public scrutiny has him contemplating whether he will swim in the 2012 Olympics. Phelps, who said that he "clearly made a mistake" and that the past week has been both embarrassing and uncomfortable for him, spoke with The Baltimore Sun inside Meadowbrook Aquatic Center after finishing his daily workout. While he still has goals he wants to achieve in the sport, he said, he's going to discuss it with his family and his coach, Bob Bowman.

*

Phelps said he has spent the past few days with his mother and two sisters after the photo was published in Britain's News of the World over the weekend. "We've been talking a lot," he said. "I've been able to get back to my family. It's part of my life I need back."When asked whether he regularly smoked marijuana, Phelps said he did not.

*

A majority of his sponsors have vowed to stick with him despite the controversy, and yesterday, swimming's governing body, FINA, praised his apology. But scrutiny of his public life has become that much more prominent.

*

If anything, Phelps said, this has reminded him that he's subject to being watched, photographed and talked about each time he enters a room."There are always people you can't trust," he said. "During the whole thing, I've really been able to see who my friends are, who my family are, and who really loves and supports me. They've stood by my side, from the countless text messages, phone messages, e-mails, those are your friends. All those people who are around during the good times? Those aren't your friends."