Forum Discusses World Views of Homosexuality

In Yugoslavia, "lesbian" is a term synonymous with "ugly." In the Netherlands, "coming out" has taken on the religious significance of being "reborn." In Malaysia and New Zealand, attitudes are changing as homosexuality is discussed in schools and government. A panel of homosexuals from other countries discussed the dilemmas of being gay in their homelands at a forum in the Union on Friday night.

Approximately 25 students attended the forum, titled "There Are No Homosexuals Back Home: This Mentality Meets Global Reality" and co sponsored by the African Association and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Union.

Rebecca Lueth, secretary of the African Association, said she received negative reactions while organizing the open forum. "I had one member say he wasn't coming because he was afraid that breathing the same air as homosexuals might turn him into a homosexual," Lueth said. Lueth said she organized the event because she has many gay friends who are also international students and many foreign students from Africa are homophobic. "I wanted this to be a discussion where people could learn about something that carries so many stereotypes," Lueth said. "When you actually listen to someone tell their story they become more human." Lueth said she believes the turnout from the African Association was low because many foreign students from Africa are afraid or ignorant of homosexuality.

The panel featured gay, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered persons from New Zealand, Malaysia, Netherlands, Yugoslavia and Japan. Many of them said being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered is not as accepted in their countries as in the United States.

A gay man from Malaysia who requested to remain anonymous said it is very difficult to be gay in his country, where the majority of marriages are arranged. "What is it like to be gay in Malaysia? It sucks," he said. However, he said the attitude in Malaysia is changing and that more newspapers are paying attention to the issue, and high school students are being educated about homosexuality. "The trend is toward a more liberal attitude, but most people are still scared," he said. He started to realize how easy and open homosexuality can be in other countries from the tourists who visited Malaysia.

Stephan Sanders from the Netherlands said being gay is a Western definition that becomes problematic if you want to talk about homosexuality in other parts of the world. He said the idea of coming out is a Christian concept of being reborn and then having one's life revolve around one's sexuality. Sanders said the whole world does not share this understanding of homosexuality. For many people, he said, homosexuality is just an act that does not carry all the additional stigmas given to it by the Western world.

William Taylor of New Zealand said his country had taken major steps to reform attitudes toward homosexuality. Taylor said that before the reforms were passed he was mayor of a town and part of his task was to oversee the public meetings about homosexual reform laws. tThe meetings were a terrifying experience. They were jam-packed with fundamentalists with Bibles, and when anyone spoke of reform they would open the Bible to any passage, particularly in the Old Testament and read aloud,v Taylor said.