Show Are academic freedom homosexuality and ii Mormonism compatible on college campuses Vincent Pierrot Contributing Writer r rIN IN N its edition of April 7 the Horizon report reported d the controversy that hat occurred over the screening of two lesbian films at the University of North Florida The question raised shall such exposition of an abnormal abnormal abnormal ab normal style of life the life the gay and lesbian behavior through the art be art be brought to students as a part of an educational process Main issues that emerged were the academic freedom and diversity on campus the relevance ce of the two films the damage done to women's history and the promotion generated to an abnormal life life- style The two films are called Out of Suburbia the stories stones of Eleven Lesbians and Seven Rooms or What do Lesbians do in Bed More recently in a June edition the Horizon mentioned mentioned mentioned men men- briefly the occurrence of an important Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Utah Yes gay and lesbian making film-making is different yes itis it if itis is part of an educational experience and yes it is legitimate to write or talk about Homosexuals still suffer from prejudices even ven among the most liberal people AIDS for instance has long been constructed along a a series of moral oppositions that defined gay men as disease carriers polluting an innocent population Thus they are responsible ible for their own plight t and unde undeserving erving of sympathy Certainly it is easier to associate homosexuality with mental illness or a genital deformation rather than a choice of an individual to dispose of himself No homosexuals have not always been organized as a separate people The classical Greek and Roman literature the foundation of much of Western thought leaves no doubt as to the general acceptability acceptability acceptability accept accept- ability of sex same-sex bonding in those societies In the book The Rise of Gay and Lesbian Movement the author Barry D. D Addams explains In Ancient Greece adolescence adolescence adolescence cence was a time when young men left their biological families to become the lovers of adult men Furthermore Furthermore Furthermore Further Further- more sexuality was but one element of an and educational relationship in which youths learned the ways of manhood Derek Jarman is one of the leading gay filmmakers in Great Britain He is a highly respected garde avant-garde cin aste with a fine arts education whose manner as a writer-director writer is to take classical material and give it its ita a anew new spin His pictures are visually stunning homoerotic im im- im- im agery Somehow he forces us to rethink our understanding understanding understanding under under- standing of history and shatter traditional concepts of gender identity Shocking In The Tile Garden Jarman places a gay couple who replaces Christ in a fragmented fragmented fragmented frag frag- reenactment of the story of the passion Jarman Jarman Jarman Jar Jar- man confers Christianity is something that pervades per per- vades our society and the way we look at things My importance if I 1 ha have e any is that 1 I have r reclaimed claimed a a whole history for gay people The art of film is more confrontational and has more impact on the people On campus more than anywhere else freedom of expression expression expression ex ex- ex- ex as well as free ideas are important Do students know that some censorship was applied during the college art show in the College Center A photograph featuring a Book of Mormon ideology surrounded by a sea of one dollar bills was censored from the exhibit What then is the function of art 1 |