From Destruction, Student Hopes for Openness and Support Among Peers

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As a Christian and a member of the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (moqa), I find myself troubled by certain stereotypes embedded in our culture here at Middlebury, as well as the way in which we express our feelings to each other.
I was out on McCullough lawn to help decorate the closet and remember it as a very positive experience. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be there and to share their happiness with fellow students. I think this is a sentiment that I have had about the gay community in general this year. We are moving towards a friendlier campus.
There are more allies at moqa meetings this year than there have been in the past, and the separate ally group has attracted many more people who want to help make our campus a better place. I like to think of one reason in particular to work for a more gay-friendly campus, and that is the fact that so many of our younger siblings are on their way to matriculating at Middlebury.
If my younger sister were a lesbian and decided to come to school here, I would want her to have a better experience than I think we could provide for her right now.
The negative perceptions of moqa are disappearing as people realize that the way we view sexuality is an issue that needs to be addressed. In general, I don't think that we address many controversial topics on this campus and I am not exactly sure why.
We don't ask our friends about their ethnic or racial backgrounds and we don't discuss political issues. Furthermore, the groups that do discuss these issues have reputations for being people who like to complain about things.
I think that we are just the opposite. We are a community of people who are diverse in opinion and not at all perfect, but hope for change and work to make that happen. Today I walked by the destroyed closet and saw something amazing. The pieces had fallen in the shape of a cross next to the word "love."
I have heard Christians on campus talking about the "Jesus loves everyone" statement that was on the side of the closet and become upset because they believed that it was written in a mocking way. In fact, I was there when it was written and the person who wrote it had very good intentions.
Many of us assume that we are being attacked. Just as the Christian community may feel attacked by the statement about Jesus, the gay community now feels attacked by the destruction of the closet.
We do not know that anyone tore down the closet for a homophobic reason. Much vandalism happens on this campus because people are drunk and feel more free to do things than they would otherwise. However, this may be the underlying problem. Is our campus socially OK? It seems like we need to get drunk in order to express ourselves to other people.
We also don't date here — straight or gay. We don't hold hands in public. We don't show how we feel to those we care about. What I am asking is that we do that — that we think about how we want to live our lives and what kind of people we want to be. I want to be a supportive, open, loving person.

Laura Erickson-Schroth is a senior at Middlebury College. She is a member of the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance.