Manny and Stephen Dedication

In our interviews with alumni, two names came up again and again: Manuel [Manny] Hernandez and Stephen Gendin. Both men were significant voices in the journals. As curators and readers of the journals, it was an honor for us to be able to read the words of these individuals, and to have a glimpse into the friendships they fostered and the activism they pushed forward. We decided that we would not directly display their personal entries because we are unable to ask for consent in showing their confessional contributions to the journals. However, their influence, both in the journals and in the LGSA organization as friends and organizers, echoes throughout this exhibit.

In order to feature their words in some way, we chose to use Letters to the Editor that Manny and Stephen wrote responding to misrepresentations of the LGBTQ community in the Brown Daily Herald.

Image of "Manny and Stephen Dedication" Label

Manny- "Adalier's Paranoid Delusions" Letter to the Editor

“Adalier’s Paranoid Delusions” Letter to the Editor written by Manuel Hernandez, c. October 28, 1987

From Brown Daily Herald

Transcription:

Adalier's Paranoid Delusions

To the editor:

I was shocked and outraged when I read the letter by Gokhan Adalier. His letter expessed paranoid delusions similar to the Nazi's and Fascist's of World War II. The article pretends to be in support of Carl Saphier's misguided article, but deteriorates to an endless display of name calling and discriminating labels.

You state that the LGSA thrives on "victim status" in order to exploit the pity of people. What reason would they have to exploit the pity of people/ What reason would they have to exploit people? Somehow having a privilege to have a pink trireangle on the Green for a week does not seem to be valid motivation. Adalier also states that the LGSA has become sponsored perversion.

This article falls into the same trap that Saphier's ill-fated piece did, which is that it uses a minor issue in order to promote a greater foal of discrimination. While Saphier's article tried to be discreet (however unsuccessful the attempt was), Adalier's letter does not hide any of the discriminatory attitudes that he holds.

I cannot understand his reasoning and I am afraid of his conclusions. In calling for Brown as a campus to reconsider its position on issues of equality of women, minorities, and homosexuals, Adalier is asking for us all to go back in time. I ask Adalier to remember a time when women were considered the property of men, blacks could not sit in a classroom with whites, and gays were stoned in public. Perhaps that is what he wants. For some strange reason, this does not appeal to me.

I do not know why Adalier and Saphier see the need to create a greater mood of discrimination on this campus. I simply warn them to beware. The next wave of discrimination could be against them.

Manuel Hernandez '89

Stephen - "Mixed Up and Wrong" Letter to the Editor

“Mixed Up And Wrong” Letter to the Editor written by Stephen Gendin, c. October 21, 1987

From Brown Daily Herald

Transcription:

Mixed Up And Wrong

To the editor:

I never declined to comment to the Herald, as I am stated to have done in Tuesday’s article on the March on Washington. I was never contacted by any member of the Herald staff whom I know.

The LGSA did fake an unofficial position not to comment to Herald reporters, but individual members did not have to and some did not, go along with this decision. The reason the LGSA decided not to cooperate was a very real concern that our statements would be taken out of context and that facts would be mixed up or just plain wrong.

Tuesday's article proved us correct.

Some basic facts that the Herald got wrong include:

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was given in 1963 [sic], not 1968.
Eleanor Smeal of the former president of the National Organization of Women, not National Organizer for Women.
The civil disobedience in front of the Supreme Court happened on Tuesday, not Monday.

There are more serious problems with the article. It gives a very incomplete and inaccurate coverage of march demands and events. Its unfocused nature prevents the reader from getting a feel for what the week was like. It doesn't give any history of the march. A 200 word limit on letters prevents me from getting any more specific. Individuals who want to know what the march was really about will be happy to know that the LGSA is attempting to fund its own campus wide magazine. The march will be discussed at great length in the first issue.

Stephen Gendin ‘89

Editor, LGSA Newsletter

Page updated

Report abuse