By Hannah Haney | Echo
In the midst of an ongoing controversy over a constitutional ban on gay marriage, small liberal arts colleges like DePauw University and Wabash University have taken a solid stance in support of legalized same-sex marriage. Taylor, however, has not chosen to come down on either side of the issue, according to Jim Garringer, director of media relations.
Indiana University, DePauw University and Wabash University recently decided to stand against Indiana's proposed constitutional ban on same sex marriage, House Joint Resolution 6 (HJR6). The legislation seeks to define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman. All three schools have joined Freedom Indiana, a bipartisan grassroots campaign that opposes the constitutional amendment.
Indiana University, the largest public school in the state, announced its allegiance with Freedom Indiana on Oct. 28. DePauw and Wabash, both small, secular, private liberal-arts schools, joined the group on Nov. 4.
Though Taylor hasn't taken a side on the bill, the university does have a firm stance on sexuality, which can be found in the Statement on Human Sexuality."The Biblical design for human sexuality demands sexual faithfulness for married couples [Exod. 20:14; 1 Cor. 6:13-20] and chastity for those who are single [1 Thess. 4:3-8]," the statement declares. "All premarital and extra-marital sexual activity [e.g., fornication, adultery, incest, prostitution, homosexual behavior, and all sexual activity involving children] is immoral."
The human sexuality statement does acknowledge the difference between sexual orientation and sexual behavior.
"The former pertains to attraction or desire, which are not necessarily of a person's own choosing," the statement says. "Behavioral conduct, however, is under one's control and thus reasonably subject to biblical standards governing sexual expression."
As this issue has become more and more prominent in society-Illinois just became the 15th state to legalize same sex marriage as of Nov. 5-students have become more open to discussing homosexuality.
"I feel like it's something that people are willing to talk about if they're confronted with it," said senior Jeffry Neuhouser, president of Choros, a campus group that discusses issues regarding sexuality. "People don't sit down to think about it unless they've been confronted with a friend or family member who struggles with it. It's just one of those issues that you don't want to think about until you have to."
"I think it's difficult for anyone (when) part of their life experience is same sex attraction," Bob Neideck, the director of the counseling center, said. "And they're at a place at Taylor where, even if I believe it's okay as a student to express . . . same-sex behavior, it's looked on as wrong for this community. I think that's hard."
Part of what can contribute to this difficulty is a feeling of isolation.
"There are still crude jokes, there are still crude comments made that I don't think are intended to single out a particular person and isolate them," Neideck said. "But (the comments) are isolating, because people feel like, 'Okay, I can't talk about this struggle in my life or this issue in my life experience when I listen to people making jokes about it or talking in a persecutory tone about it.'"Neideck also believes much of the isolation is unintentional and that Taylor students don't try to target those who struggle with same-sex behavior. As a result, isolation can often go unnoticed.
Neuhouser believes there is an explanation for this."Because of the nature of the issue . . . it's not something you can just see," Neuhouser said. "We all kind of make judgments or inferences about people just because we can see. But this is an issue you can't see. So it does have a little bit of isolation."
According to Garringer and Neideck, two major steps need to be taken: the practice of conversation and the use of caution when we speak."I've always believed that more can be accomplished when people talk to each other," Garringer said. "I think it's through that sharing and through that bearing one another's burdens that we can grow together as a community."
Choros is one group on campus that is fostering those conversations. Choros will hold their next meeting on Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the Braden Room to continue their discussions on sexuality.
"Ideally, I think the burden falls on students to make Taylor a safe place for those who are experiencing same-sex attraction . . . . because the issues come with peers," Neideck said. "That's when people feel unsafe or isolated by random, careless comments or jokes."
According to Neideck, in an ideal world, students would be more careful about what they're saying about others.
Despite the uncertainty of what implications HJR6 might have on Taylor, Garringer isn't worried.
"I trust (God) for whatever the future holds and I think I would say that relative to whatever happens with the amendment," Garringer said.
HJR6 will be up for its final legislative vote in the 2014 voting season. If it is passed, then it will go to to Indiana voters for a statewide referendum in November 2014.
