U.S. Representative's Visit Marred by Anti-Gay Slurs

Anti-gay slurs defaced a Leverett House poster advertising the Saturday speech of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank '61-'62 (D-Mass.), angry house residents said yesterday.

The poster, which originally read "Come Hear Barney Frank Talk About Political Life in Washington and How He Copes With Conservatives Like Newt Gingrich," was "doctored to read 'See How Barney Frank Deals With Being a Faggot,'" said Leverett resident Sarah J. Manguso '96.

"Later, his name was blacked out and the word 'faggot' was written across it," she said.

Manguso said she found the slurs "completely offensive and disgusting." She said her initial reaction was to remove the doctored poster, but that she decided to leave it hanging as a lesson to the community.

"I ended up leaving it up so that people could see what happens at a place like Harvard that defines itself as liberal and tolerant, but [is not]," she said.

Leverett House Master John E. Dowling '57 said yesterday that he was unawareof the incident and would look into the matter.

"I have not heard about [the antigay slurs],and that surprises me," he said. "I will find outabout it."

Anti-feminist graffiti is also common inLeverett House, said house resident Connie You'96.

"I get the feeling it's a conservativeenvironment, or perhaps it's a conservativeminority voicing its opinions," You said.

She said the incident was "extremely serious,"because "a poster is a public representation andwhen a person's opinion intrudes on that publicrepresentation, that's dangerous."

"With posters, you know who wrote them.Graffiti is anonymous, and that makes it even moredangerous," she added.

In the past, the office of Dean of StudentsArchie C. Epps III has taken disciplinary actionagainst students who removed or defacedCollege-sanctioned posters.

When informed of the incident yesterday, Eppssaid it would be necessary to find out who defacedthe poster before any action could be taken.

"I would condemn [the slurs] most strongly as akind of intolerance unseemly at Harvard College,"he said.

Leverett resident Theodore K. Gideonse '96, whowas the editor of HQ magazine, said he is alsoupset by the anti-gay graffiti. He cited a lack ofhistorical support for liberalism in LeverettHouse as a reason for the incident.

"Dunster and Adams have a historicalenvironment of being very open. Leverett doesn'thave that history," said Gideonse, who is aCrimson editor.

However, "it's not so much Leverett House asthe school overall," Gideonse qualified. "Theschool as an institution does not respond to gaystudents' needs in the way that they should," hesaid.

Gideonse, a gay student who describes himselfas "very out," said that "there are others who arenot [out] because of the environment."

Gideonse said he was a member of Contact, apeer counseling group that deals with issues ofsexual orientation, and was frustrated in hisattempts to poster for the group in LeverettHouse.

"The average amount of time a poster would stayup in [Leverett] Towers was a day.[Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra] posters would be upfor three weeks, but Contact might be gone in anhour," he said.

"There's no other way to interpret that exceptas anti-gay," Gideonse said.

Derek Ho '96, president of theHarvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, who hostedthe congressperson's speech, said he was "saddenedto hear about it."

"I guess that [the Leverett incident] and theMather House [racial slur] event are indicative ofsome of the very ugly sentiments that exist underthe atmosphere of superficial tolerance that moststudents at Harvard express," Ho said.

Ho said he was "particularly upset thatCongressman Frank was the target."

"He is such a complex and multifaceted person,that to single out this one characteristic iscompletely ignorant of who he is," Ho said.

Leverett House residents disagree on what stepsshould be taken in response to the incident.

Gideonse said he feels that a mandatory housemeeting would be valuable.

"Mather House masters took an incredibly activerole to put [racial slurs] down," he said.

"They held a house meeting to discuss it.[Leverett House] should create a dialogue, harshand powerful, condemning actions like this."

"I want to see a response that's equal to theway it makes me feel," Gideonse said.

You said she agreed that a House meeting wouldbe appropriate.

Manguso, however, said she thought a meetingwould not be effective in changing the attitudesof the vandal.

"Someone who would do something like this wouldnot benefit from sharing someone else's point ofview and talking about it," Manguso said. "I'm notsure that holding an all-house meeting wouldaccomplish anything."

Ho said he thought the slur was particularlymeaningful in light of Frank's speech Saturday.

"It's ironic because in [Frank's] speechyesterday, he said the first amendment is forassholes and that the first amendment is the rightof jerks to be jerks," Ho said. "I guess we sawthat here.

"I have not heard about [the antigay slurs],and that surprises me," he said. "I will find outabout it."

Anti-feminist graffiti is also common inLeverett House, said house resident Connie You'96.

"I get the feeling it's a conservativeenvironment, or perhaps it's a conservativeminority voicing its opinions," You said.

She said the incident was "extremely serious,"because "a poster is a public representation andwhen a person's opinion intrudes on that publicrepresentation, that's dangerous."

"With posters, you know who wrote them.Graffiti is anonymous, and that makes it even moredangerous," she added.

In the past, the office of Dean of StudentsArchie C. Epps III has taken disciplinary actionagainst students who removed or defacedCollege-sanctioned posters.

When informed of the incident yesterday, Eppssaid it would be necessary to find out who defacedthe poster before any action could be taken.

"I would condemn [the slurs] most strongly as akind of intolerance unseemly at Harvard College,"he said.

Leverett resident Theodore K. Gideonse '96, whowas the editor of HQ magazine, said he is alsoupset by the anti-gay graffiti. He cited a lack ofhistorical support for liberalism in LeverettHouse as a reason for the incident.

"Dunster and Adams have a historicalenvironment of being very open. Leverett doesn'thave that history," said Gideonse, who is aCrimson editor.

However, "it's not so much Leverett House asthe school overall," Gideonse qualified. "Theschool as an institution does not respond to gaystudents' needs in the way that they should," hesaid.

Gideonse, a gay student who describes himselfas "very out," said that "there are others who arenot [out] because of the environment."

Gideonse said he was a member of Contact, apeer counseling group that deals with issues ofsexual orientation, and was frustrated in hisattempts to poster for the group in LeverettHouse.

"The average amount of time a poster would stayup in [Leverett] Towers was a day.[Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra] posters would be upfor three weeks, but Contact might be gone in anhour," he said.

"There's no other way to interpret that exceptas anti-gay," Gideonse said.

Derek Ho '96, president of theHarvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, who hostedthe congressperson's speech, said he was "saddenedto hear about it."

"I guess that [the Leverett incident] and theMather House [racial slur] event are indicative ofsome of the very ugly sentiments that exist underthe atmosphere of superficial tolerance that moststudents at Harvard express," Ho said.

Ho said he was "particularly upset thatCongressman Frank was the target."

"He is such a complex and multifaceted person,that to single out this one characteristic iscompletely ignorant of who he is," Ho said.

Leverett House residents disagree on what stepsshould be taken in response to the incident.

Gideonse said he feels that a mandatory housemeeting would be valuable.

"Mather House masters took an incredibly activerole to put [racial slurs] down," he said.

"They held a house meeting to discuss it.[Leverett House] should create a dialogue, harshand powerful, condemning actions like this."

"I want to see a response that's equal to theway it makes me feel," Gideonse said.

You said she agreed that a House meeting wouldbe appropriate.

Manguso, however, said she thought a meetingwould not be effective in changing the attitudesof the vandal.

"Someone who would do something like this wouldnot benefit from sharing someone else's point ofview and talking about it," Manguso said. "I'm notsure that holding an all-house meeting wouldaccomplish anything."

Ho said he thought the slur was particularlymeaningful in light of Frank's speech Saturday.

"It's ironic because in [Frank's] speechyesterday, he said the first amendment is forassholes and that the first amendment is the rightof jerks to be jerks," Ho said. "I guess we sawthat here.