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zfreelance) wrote2011-02-15 04:35 pm
zfreelance) wrote2011-02-15 04:35 pm
Entry tags:
don't fret, precious
Trigger Warning
So, my school awoke on Valentine's Day morning to find a massive anti-abortion exhibit erected in the middle of campus.
There were billboards depicting dead, bloody fetuses that called abortion, "America's Killing Ground". The phrases 'genocide', 'Obama', and 'insanity' were all used in the same sentence. And my personal favorite was the slogan, "Real feminists don't kill babies. Real feminists protect women and children."
There were warning signs posted around the exhibit, but this was set up not 100 feet from where I live, and it was impossible to get to class without seeing the exhibit.
I read the pamphlet. I spoke to the volunteers. I took pictures of the billboards. And I'm so frustrated, I could scream.
Not because these nutjobs exist. They can be as crazy as they want to be, so long as they're not a controlling majority in Congress, or in my god damn front yard.
I'm mad at my school for letting these psychos bombard their students with their prejudice and hate. Free speech is one thing. Running the risk of triggering someone who was unable to avoid the billboards is something completely different.
I asked the volunteers if they offered on-site counseling, or if there was someone trained to deal with the inevitable consequences of their aggressive tactics being the final straw for someone's well-being. They directed me to a hot-line, as if severe psychological trauma is something that can be smoothed over with one patronizing phone conversation.
Normally, an external organization cannot set up shop on campus without the invitation of a student organization. But when I contacted the school about which organization it was, I received this in reply:
Dear [Z],
Regarding the activity held yesterday and today on the Cannon Greens, the display was presented by a rental customer, and was not funded or sponsored by a student organization. As a state university and institution of higher education, the University of West Florida supports and encourages free speech and healthy discourse on subjects about which reasonable people may have differing viewpoints. The University does not necessarily agree with the viewpoints of those expressed by the presenters. The event today was one of those events; a public event held on a public university campus.
Because the subject matter of this display touches on issues that may be sensitive for some students, University Counseling Center staff are on hand to provide counseling services as needed.
I hope this answered your question.
Not only can I practically hear the University washing its hands of any and all culpability, this e-mail also made one things abundantly clear: No one thought about the consequences.
There was no prior warning that this exhibit was coming. There was no announcement or reminder of counseling on campus. We just woke up one morning to find dead babies thrown in our faces, and come tomorrow, the ones responsible will have ridden off into the sunset, leaving us to pick up the pieces.
We are being made victims, or worse, made victims again, in the name of free speech.
I do not like censorship and I will die for our right to express our opinions. But I put my foot down when this freedom is wielded carelessly and harmfully, with no consequences or recourse for those who are affected.
However, when I wrote an e-mail to the organization, I did not breathe fire and brimstone, but instead calmly and (probably) respectfully informed them of the logic fallacy of their assumption that shocking people will do anything but harm, and asked them to kindly never return to my school.
Whether or not this is read or responded to remains to be seen, but it'll make me feel justified in posting signs that say, "Gay Sex = No Babies!" all over the place if I ever see these guys, again.
So, my school awoke on Valentine's Day morning to find a massive anti-abortion exhibit erected in the middle of campus.
There were billboards depicting dead, bloody fetuses that called abortion, "America's Killing Ground". The phrases 'genocide', 'Obama', and 'insanity' were all used in the same sentence. And my personal favorite was the slogan, "Real feminists don't kill babies. Real feminists protect women and children."
There were warning signs posted around the exhibit, but this was set up not 100 feet from where I live, and it was impossible to get to class without seeing the exhibit.
I read the pamphlet. I spoke to the volunteers. I took pictures of the billboards. And I'm so frustrated, I could scream.
Not because these nutjobs exist. They can be as crazy as they want to be, so long as they're not a controlling majority in Congress, or in my god damn front yard.
I'm mad at my school for letting these psychos bombard their students with their prejudice and hate. Free speech is one thing. Running the risk of triggering someone who was unable to avoid the billboards is something completely different.
I asked the volunteers if they offered on-site counseling, or if there was someone trained to deal with the inevitable consequences of their aggressive tactics being the final straw for someone's well-being. They directed me to a hot-line, as if severe psychological trauma is something that can be smoothed over with one patronizing phone conversation.
Normally, an external organization cannot set up shop on campus without the invitation of a student organization. But when I contacted the school about which organization it was, I received this in reply:
Dear [Z],
Regarding the activity held yesterday and today on the Cannon Greens, the display was presented by a rental customer, and was not funded or sponsored by a student organization. As a state university and institution of higher education, the University of West Florida supports and encourages free speech and healthy discourse on subjects about which reasonable people may have differing viewpoints. The University does not necessarily agree with the viewpoints of those expressed by the presenters. The event today was one of those events; a public event held on a public university campus.
Because the subject matter of this display touches on issues that may be sensitive for some students, University Counseling Center staff are on hand to provide counseling services as needed.
I hope this answered your question.
Not only can I practically hear the University washing its hands of any and all culpability, this e-mail also made one things abundantly clear: No one thought about the consequences.
There was no prior warning that this exhibit was coming. There was no announcement or reminder of counseling on campus. We just woke up one morning to find dead babies thrown in our faces, and come tomorrow, the ones responsible will have ridden off into the sunset, leaving us to pick up the pieces.
We are being made victims, or worse, made victims again, in the name of free speech.
I do not like censorship and I will die for our right to express our opinions. But I put my foot down when this freedom is wielded carelessly and harmfully, with no consequences or recourse for those who are affected.
However, when I wrote an e-mail to the organization, I did not breathe fire and brimstone, but instead calmly and (probably) respectfully informed them of the logic fallacy of their assumption that shocking people will do anything but harm, and asked them to kindly never return to my school.
Whether or not this is read or responded to remains to be seen, but it'll make me feel justified in posting signs that say, "Gay Sex = No Babies!" all over the place if I ever see these guys, again.