"Choosing Sides" and other news from Kansas State University

As some who read this might know, I'm from Kansas and attend Kansas State University (KSU). Here in Manhattan, the community is predominately conservative and/or Roman Catholic, and so many associate us with rural bible-thumpers or something close to it. However, what many don't realize is that we have some of the most liberal groups within our KSU community that do all sorts of wonderful things for our community and the people that belong to it. Normally, I wouldn't even glance at our school newspaper. It's definitely not something that I would consider "top-notch" reading material (I prefer bigger newspapers), but today the front page caught my attention.
I have heard, as most people have who pay attention to the news, of the Westboro Baptist church and Fred Phelps and his followers who protest against any and all things that have to do with homosexuality, the military and so on. Being from Kansas and having to share the beautiful state with a hate-group makes me angry, but also makes me inspired to become involved in a group or organization that proves that equality is the best way to go. Having this opportunity at hand, reading the collegian (our school's newspaper) about those who went out and protested against Fred Phelps' followers renewed my faith in our student body and the staff that went and supported them. The students and staff were protesting for the equal rights in the work force (because, unfortunately, Manhattan does not have anything enacted that allows for the non-discrimination based on sexual orientation). Today, I'm proud to be a Wildcat.
On the topic of homosexuality was another story in the collegian about a professor here at K-State who is an English and American ethnic studies professor who is currently writing a book about the two-spirited-ness of American Indians. I've never heard of the term before today, and so I was surprised to learn that two-spirited basically means (and I'm summarizing here) that the American Indian considers themselves gay or lesbian.
I've been fortunate enough to have this professor as one of my own professors last semester and she was fantastic. I'm looking forward to this book, not only to read about American Indians (as my heritage is a part of that ethnicity) but also to learn about how American Indians have viewed homosexuality throughout their existence. That is one area that I have never heard about until now, but have often wondered about.

Click here for the article on the non-violent protest against Fred Phelps' clan.

Click here for the article on two-spirited literature.

+Andi

Why Gay Marriage is Bad -- Just wanna let you know, this is PRO gay marriage.

I know it's a "chain-mail" thing, but I couldn't help myself.

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Re-post this if you believe love makes a marriage.

+Andi