FAGS

This picture is from a stretch of sidewalk on the campus at UB. The picture is photo-shopped slightly, but only for contrast and brightness. The human eye can take in a lot more than a camera lens, but even with photo shop I could not get it to burn on the screen like it did in my eyes. On the same stretch of sidewalk, the words "FAGS" and "FAG" are scrawled three times. I notified the university system through the campus police, on Wed. April 11, at 3:31 pm EDT. They said they would take care of it. This is what is looks like today.

I have talked to many people at UB who say they don't think that there is a problem with discrimination toward GLBT people. One girl even argued that using the word "GAY" as a negative word (synonymous with stupid, idiotic, unfair, lame or even ass-hole) is not discriminatory and not offensive (needless to say, she is not gay). Well, I don't offer this picture as proof that discrimination is still here. I just want people to think about it. Maybe we should all think about how easy it is to point out a group of people and make them the brunt of a joke or a favorite insult word.

The word "fag" is an extremely derogatory word, but it is also a very common word to hear in high schools, on college campuses, and while hanging-out with friends (or not-so-friends as it may be).

Here is another picture from the sidewalk. And in the next post I will show the originals (before photo shop). Homophobia is alive and well, and it is up to you and me to put an end to it.