Athletic arenas have long been bastions of homophobia.
Case-in-point: students at the University of Virginia insist on shouting “I’m not gay” during one of the school’s traditional rally cries: “Good Old Song,” which includes the lyrics, “We come from old Virginia, Where all is bright and gay.” That’s where hundreds of students chime in their own sexual assertion.
Tired of their peers’ insensitivity, gay students have launched a campaign to quell the aural editorials. And, of course, they’re meeting some resistance, including a particularly inane op-ed from a freshman named Alex Cortes.
Cortes’ piece, entitled “Not Gay and Proud Of It,” reads:
When proudly shouting, “I’m not gay” during the “Good Ol’ Song,” I am simply publicizing my religiously-informed belief that it is wrong to act homosexual.
I find it pathetic that our Christian American majority, in this case shown at the University, is willing to set aside their religious beliefs for political correctness…Political correctness, a weakening morality and lack of courage are suffocating our once-great nation. You have an opportunity to stop the suffocation. Promote the “not gay” chant.
Cortes also tells Inside Higher Ed that by saying “I’m not gay,” he’s reasserting his heterosexuality, “and, through that, that itâ€™s wrong to act gay.” That’s the gayest thing we’ve ever heard.