Articles Creating Divisiveness On Campus

By E. Teejay Brown

Dear Michael Gryboski,

Firstly, I would like to state that it has been brought to my attention that you have angered student groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine and the Black Student Alliance with previous 'opinion' articles. In your latest article titled, "Homosexuality Is a Mental Illness: Political Correction Interfering with Reason," you have chosen to target the Pride Alliance (as you did last year in a nearly identical article). I would first like to acknowledge the hard work that the Pride Alliance, Ric Chollar, Associate Director of LGBTQ Services, and the Pride Week Planning Committee (of which I was a member) put into the organization and implementation of this years' Pride Week. To have this hard work marginalized and criticized has been truly hurtful to many students, faculty, and staff on this campus.

Furthermore, even though your article is an opinion piece, it serves as a poorly argued, ill-conceived attempt to mask your opinion with what you claim to be scientific fact and reason; although it is not apparent to me if you truly grasp the complexities of human psychopathology. It is certainly your right to express your opinions as they are protected by freedom of speech in this country, but I have to wonder what is your goal for writing these types of articles? These articles seem to be creating divisiveness on this campus instead of togetherness and tolerance of groups and affiliations that are not your own. Togetherness, as idealistic as it may seem, is something that has to be a priority on a campus like George Mason that is touted for being so diverse.

Also, you state that all mental illnesses should constitute distress to the sufferer, impairment of life, and abnormality of behavior. All of these are socially constructed, as you agree in your article, but do you (and more importantly does our larger student population) truly grasp the impact of social and cultural influences on minority groups over time? More specifically, the quantification of the effects of prejudice toward minority groups is far more complex than examining observable behaviors.

Also I wonder which of you identities and affiliations are interfering with your 'reason' in this clearly biased article?

Sincerely,
E. Teejay Brown
Office/Program Manager
Office of Diversity Programs & Services