Approximately a month ago seventy-five posters advertising The Heterosexism Enquirer’s web site were distributed across Memorial University of Newfoundland’s campus. It recently came to the attention of T.H.E.'s editors, via a participant in the web site’s forum, that certain posters were vandalized. The incident was investigated and it now appears that only four or five of these posters remain in their original location, untouched. The obvious disappearance and suspected vandalism of these posters suggest an attitude of sexual prejudice on campus that, though incomparable to the brutal killing of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, is representative of obvious anti-gay sentiments in a more generalized world view. People with homosexual or bisexual orientations have long been ostracized. Thus, it should come with little surprise that posters advertising a facility for such people were quickly decimated. Like other forms of prejudice, however, these actions cannot (should not) be passed over without serious scrutiny and commentary.
Heterosexism, as defined by the editors of this site, describes an often subtle (but pervasive) sexual bias against homosexual people exhibited by society. Cultural guidelines are drawn by individuals, by which they are conditioned, and by which they expect everyone to live and behave as heterosexuals. Heterosexism is sexual prejudice and it is rooted deep within the customs and traditions of society. It is also the stimulus by which the lives of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people are demeaned. It further isolates such people and makes it that much harder for them to meet, live, and love themselves and find acceptance. The removal of posters may appear on the surface to be only a minor incident of heterosexism. It should be recognized, however, that an episode such as this is only one example of many similar occurrences that have transpired on campus. Members of LGBT-MUN have previously reported that their advertisements have been defaced, hence devalued. As in most communities (academic or otherwise), homosexuality appears to be accepted on campus as long as it remains invisible. As soon as items such as posters or other paraphernalia are used to advertise facilities or debate issues within the LGBT community, homosexuality and sexual orientation come under attack. Examples of heterosexist sentiments, not solely illustrated in the destruction of posters, occur in all major sectors of public life. Heterosexism is prevalent in government policies concerning same-sex relationships, housing services, legal protection, and now university campuses. Ironically, this blemishing of posters occurred on a university campus -- an institution supposedly dedicated to producing well-educated, unprejudiced, liberal-minded members of the community. The circle of hatred hardly seems unbroken.
Can the removal and defacement of these posters be a direct representation of heterosexist sentiments within the university community or can such an event be demonstrative of a more general world experience? The treatment of these posters may indeed speak to a more prevalent attitude of sexual prejudice. Although the incident that occurred at MUN is not as extreme as the murder of Matthew Shepard, it may represent a community’s lifelong exposure to messages about the appropriate sexual behavior of men and women. Like other perpetrators of anti-gay attacks, the people who removed The Heterosexism Enquirer’s posters may have felt that they were enforcing society’s beliefs of what is acceptable sexual conduct. Anti-gay attitudes are central to the conservative and religious ideologies actualized in cultural and societal beliefs. The incident that occurred (and still occurs) at MUN is only a small illustration of a larger ideology. The defacement and removal of posters at the Memorial campus epitomizes an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any non-heterosexual behavior, identity, relationship or community.