Posted By Gettysburgian Staff on Oct 18, 2022 | 3 comments

By Joe Zimbler

Seems contradictory doesn’t it? You may be asking yourself, regardless of your beliefs regarding homosexuality and trans identities, why? Why would someone like me, who hung a rainbow flag in our locker room, attend this event? Well, let me explain:  

Polarization is one of the biggest issues facing the world today. People on both sides of the political spectrum generally refuse to interact with those with different beliefs. When your friends share similar beliefs you are not exposed to other ways of thinking or ideas. It is so easy to look at the other side of an issue and say things such as:  

“How can people possibly support this?”  

“What is wrong with these people?”  

“Why don’t they see it the same way as me?”  

People become so entrenched in their views and surround themselves with others with the same opinion that, over time, they cannot imagine how anyone can view it differently. These notions are magnified in the discussion of homosexuality and transgender identities. On campus, we have never seen this more than with the fight over YAF’s speaker. There have been threats made by both sides, signs torn down, and a hostile environment has taken over this school. Everyone is frustrated, believing that their side is being silenced by the other. Listening to the other side of this issue would allow people to see that those on the other side of the aisle are not monsters, they are just people. No matter how incorrect the other side may seem, it is important to remember that may be someone like you, someone who shares similar interests, supports the same sports team, or grew up in the same area as you. It is imperative to understand why. 

Many of my friends are members of the LGBTQ+ community, and those who are not pretty much all fully support gay and trans rights, as I do. When they heard I wanted to attend this speaker, they were appalled, claiming this to be hate speech and feeling as though interacting with this speaker empowers him to spread a message of hatred towards members of LGBTQ+. And I understand this fear, as giving someone a voice to challenge your identity or the identity of those close to you can be terrifying. However, if we want to change and coexist, we must listen to the other side and understand why they do not support the LGBTQ+ community. It is easy to say that it is because these are bad or hateful people, but how can you ever know until you engage them?  

A few days ago, I spoke with a person familiar with Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) speaker. I asked about the speaker’s beliefs and why they do not support transgenderism and homosexuality. Then I asked them about their views, specifically regarding homosexuality, which generally has more popular support. He told me he does not believe in gay marriage (without knowing I have two moms) and why, and I found that the answer was not filled with hate messages. Despite my feelings that the evidence and reasonings were deeply misguided, I understand why he feels the way he does. With this new understanding, I can slowly work to explain to them my perspective, possibly leading to a newfound understanding. Attending this speaker’s event will be able to do this on a larger scale. If we can’t understand why people do not support the LGBTQ+ community, how can we convince people to support them? It is easy to only interact with those that do and cast others as immoral, but that won’t solve anything. Change comes with active listening; listening, not to respond, but to understand. With that, we can work to foster a more inclusive world and understanding, a world where no one must feel threatened by sharing their beliefs. And a world where, regardless of your race, sex, gender, orientation, etc., you can walk around with little fear of being hated by others for those factors. So I will be attending this event.  

I will attend this event to understand the other side and learn how people can support such an opinion. I will not yell at the speaker or be angry with those who disagree with me. They are just as entitled to an opinion as I am, no matter how misguided I may believe those opinions to be.  

Maybe I will have the chance to ask one good question. A question that gets just one person in the audience to question why they don’t support transgender individuals and/or homosexuality, even just for a second. Or maybe I won’t. Either way, I will walk out with a newfound understanding of the opinion of the other side, an opinion that, just like all others, deserves to be heard. And after, I will call my moms and tell them how much I love them.