On March 18, 19 and 20, 2002, the student population at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) voted not to add seven new Munsu council seats for under represented groups. The question was poised to student voters as follows ; " Are you in support of the addition of the following seven new Munsu council seats for under represented groups; Students of Colour, Students with Disabilities, Student Parents, Students Older than Average, Women, and Lesbian Bisexual Gay and Transgendered individuals? ". Groups representing both sides of the issue, referring to themselves as the "yes" and "no" sides, mounted a huge campaign. The motion failed, the "no" side being victorious with under 200 votes. As an avid proponent for the yes side of the campaign, i feel confident in saying that our sentiments prior to and during the campaign were echoed in the words of Angela Lambert in her passionate article in the heterosexism enquirer.
Needless to say, the victory of the no side was quite disheartening for the campaigners of the yes side. I personally feel some perspective should be gained from the incident. I think its important all students reflect on the referendum results, not to challenge the victory of the "no" side per se, but more importantly to challenge their own perceptions and beliefs. I would like to emphasize however, that the campaign was one full of confusion, with the no side using such slogans as " Vote no for equality", and a number of centers actively campaigning against the addition of the new seats or staying neutral. These centers included Students older than average, Student parents at Mun and MUN Disability Information Support Center.
In spite of this confusion however, the general student body has sent a clear message to all students on campus, be it intentional or not. It suggests to me that essentially half of the student population either believes heterosexism does not exist on campus, or that if it does they do not believe the situation should be rectified. In spite of claims to the contrary by no supporters, I find myself wondering on occasion if the yes campaign would have been successful if the council did not propose to give a seat to an LBGT representative.
That being said, I think the very fact that the seats were proposed, should offer hope to society at large. Clearly, the voice of the marginalized groups in our society is being heard by someone. Clearly by being, visible on campus, marginalized groups have made people stop and think. Clearly the refusal to be silenced, has started to sink in. Clearly, being heterosexism has started to become a little bit less acceptable. Proof of this can be found in the words of a no campaigner, Chad Blundon, " We weren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of having social issues representation, we were opposed to the manner in which it was done,” . Clearly, Angela Lambert was right when she said we wouldn’t be silenced for long.