People seek equality, acceptance

I would like to clarify what it is that we "Gay Rights Activists" are actually fighting for. We are not fighting for tolerance; we are fighting for acceptance and equality. Tolerance is a serious misnomer that should be corrected as soon as possible, for example:

Matthew Shepard had been lured from a campus bar by two men who told him they were gay. He was driven to a remote area near the Sherman Hills neighborhood east of Laramie, tied to a split-rail fence, tortured, beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, while he begged for his life. He was then left for dead in near freezing temperatures. A cyclist found him on Snowy Mountain View Road some 18 hours after the attack. He was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. His face was caked with blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by tears.

Matthew tolerated being tortured. He tolerated being tied to a fence for 18 hours. He tolerated for five days all the wounds he received, until finally his body gave up. And now, our country has been swept away by a new concept: instead of hating one should "tolerate" differences. It's time to throw away this useless term and all the misunderstanding it breeds.

Tolerance is the action or practice of enduring or sustaining pain or hardship. What kind of pain or hardship is a bigot "tolerating" in minorities? How does skin color cause a bigot pain or hardship? How does sexual orientation? How does ethnicity? "Tolerance" is nothing more than another term that lets bigots think they are being the mature ones; that they are the ones who are enduring pain, whereas the minorities are the ones causing it. I urge everyone to end the misuse of this term and all the ill-gotten concepts it harbors.

Bryan Szyper
Senior, School of Sciences

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