Editor’s note: This article and the photo are by Caleb Eigsti, a student at the University of Nebraska/Omaha. He is also my partner.
This past Tuesday I found myself over by the student center on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Which is odd because I normally don’t have to go that way. However, I found that it was kind of interesting once I did.
For starters the weather was beautiful. It was sunny with a breeze and not too warm. I got to the student center in the middle of campus and outside of the doors there was a group of students setting up an interactive display asking the participants what Jesus is to them. I believed this was, in fact, due to the upcoming holiday of Easter. However, that day there was another person setting up right outside the doors of the student center on campus. This man was a little over 50 and does not attend the University. He usually shows his face on campus twice in a year, or once a semester. This man is highly anti-gay and loves to scream his “love†filled message to the passers by. Many people do tend to get into conversations with this man expressing how he is going about his message-sending tactics in the wrong way.
All this just added a little fire to my day, in a bad way. I was already having a tough day and then I came across this and I really didn’t want to deal with it.
Well, this man had a dry erase board that was filled with scriptures and hateful messages. I wish I had gotten a picture of that, but hindsight right? I was just trying to walk right through and head inside to get some lunch before class when I heard him start a little conversation about gays and how they have no place in the world. “Their choice is what makes the world a mockery and the reason God will punish us†or something to that effect. (Again, I should have written the quote down exactly.)
To say the least I was quite…irritated by these words and wanted to strike back but with a little time to think decided not to. So, I walked away from the situation and headed inside of the student center to grab a bite to eat.
I walked through the doors and started up the stairs to the cafeteria, when I looked to my right and saw a sign and clipboards on a table with people behind it. The sign read “Repeal DADT Now. Not tomorrow. Not next year. Now.†I turned back and walked down the stairs and went up to the table and talked with the woman behind it. She asked me if I approved of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and I restrained a laugh, letting her know that I am very much against the policy that is currently in effect.
So she handed me a clipboard that had a sheet of information, including the phone numbers of the two senators who represent Nebraska. She let me know that both of them are “on the fence†when it comes to repealing DADT. So I gave one of my Senators a little call relaying the information that they asked on the sheet of paper and letting them know my position on the policy.
All this is to say, I think what the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is doing is great. I think they have a vision and are not afraid to go after it. Also this little encounter brightened my day, even if it was just a little! There are people out there who are fighting, there is hope and if we, as a community, can come together, put aside our differences and angers, then we can make a difference and get people to listen!
However, I think the real moral of the story is… get your phone out… dial your Senator’s number and tell him/her exactly what you think of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy!