STAFF EDITORIAL: A dark display of intolerance

And yet, a member of this community has proven him or herself capable of the worst kind of hate. Tuesday night, a coward hiding behind the anonymity afforded by e-mail posted a derogatory message to the listserv of the Queer Student Alliance. With expletives and epithets not worth repeating here, the author viciously attacked members of Penn's gay community. We are deeply offended by the words of the bigot in our midst and trust that the Penn community shares our outrage. And we are saddened that such prejudice endures on a campus that was plagued by several episodes of bias and insensitivity in the not-too-distant past. Moments like these demonstrate how far we still have to go to end discrimination against individuals based on who they are. "I think we'd all like to believe that we Penn students are intellectuals who can see past bigotry," one QSA member said. We agree -- we'd like to think that. But every so often our ivory tower is sullied by words or deeds of unadulterated prejudice. Now, we have an opportunity to reject the sentiments of the unknown e-mail writer with not only words, but actions. This coming week's Bisexual Gay Lesbian Transgendered Awareness Days represent a time for understanding and acceptance, not intolerance and exclusion. Even if you are not a member of the gay community, take advantage of this chance to show your support for B-GLAD 2000's message of tolerance.