I am not apologizing for the most recent RAMble Online poll. I began receiving emails about it less than two hours after it was distributed.
The first message was forwarded from my adviser, who was the original recipient of the email. Once I read it, my eyebrows immediately raised. What I read was a student’s explicit distaste with the poll that asked, “Should collegiate and professional athletes come out to the public?” First of all, I was surprised that someone would take the time to respond to the question, let alone write a lengthy email. This student protested the answer choices provided, saying they promoted “bigotry” and were disturbing to the gay community. Yet, even more disturbing were his poor choice of words and the content of the email, saying he knows “… straight guys who raped girls on our campus.” Instead of protesting that, he protested this poll question. While that in itself vexed me, I was more confused by something else – people’s ignorance to four words: Freedom of the Press.
There was nothing defamatory about this poll and no laws were broken. As editor, I made the decision to use the choices for the online poll, which is solely opinion and unscientific. Perhaps the variety of choices could have been better and I will take full responsibility for that. The options were as follows: “Yes, players have a right to know who they’re showering with;” “No, that kind of information may be toxic in the locker room;” “No, players’ sexuality is their business;” “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and “I don’t have an opinion.” As “offensive” as the options were, these were actual responses from people on and off the campus of Winston-Salem State and do not reflect the opinions of the entire Argus staff or newspaper. I neither altered nor censored their views.
We are not chastising his or her sexuality or the choice to reveal their sexual orientation to the public. What we are asking is should athletes come out and what effect, if any, does their announcement have to do with their talent on game day?
No one is patted on the back for being Black, female, Jewish or straight, but people are commended for coming out.
People should just be who they are and not expect validation for unapologetically living. If you’re gay, be gay. If you’re Black, be Black. Announcing it will not make people accept you more. Changing the options to a poll will not make the world accept you more.