While I appreciate the good intentions of your recent editorial encouraging the Ithaca College LGBT community to sponsor more events on campus that will educate and inform us about same-sex marriage issues and initiatives, I want to note the importance of other people (i.e., allies) doing the same, either in collaboration with the LGBT community or on their own. What you have done with your editorial is place responsibility for educating about an important and controversial issue at the feet of those who are most victimized by the injustice being addressed. Not only is this ineffective, it’s offensive. We have long done this in our society, on our campus and in our classrooms around a number of important issues, such as racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and more, and what’s missing in this approach is an awareness that the problem lies in the majority. Change must come from the majority and, thus, members of the majority must stand up and take responsibility for participating in and contributing to the education and action required to achieve social justice and change.

Jeff Claus
Associate professor of education