'Kiss-In on Ho Plaza (Cornell) Protests Sexuality Bias of Valentines Day'

Love — or, at least, lust — was in the air on Ho Plaza yesterday at 12:15 p.m. A group of roughly 20 students lined up to hold a colorful banner that read “QUEER KISSIN’ … in progress” and then proceeded have a queer kiss-in, which lasted about five minutes.

Direct Action to Stop Heterosexism sponsored the event, according to kiss-in participant Ashley McGovern ’09. She explained that heterosexism is “kind of like homophobia except heterosexism has to do with all facets of society … so the normalization of heterosexuality in society.”

Heteronormativity refers to the idea that heterosexuality is the “normal” sexual orientation. This includes the notion that people fall into two discrete categories — male and female — and that sexual relations are normal only between two people of different sexes.

DASH didn’t necessarily have sweeping or profound aims for the kiss-in, according to McGovern.

“It was just supposed to be a fun action before Valentine’s Day, it wasn’t really a protest, it was more of a visibility thing … just letting people know people are queer on campus and not afraid to be affectionate … that was the goal — visibility and having fun,” McGovern said...

Ryan Swisher ’12 was on Ho Plaza selling roses for Valentine’s Day for his fraternity when the kiss-in took place. “It was interesting. Not something I usually see on Ho Plaza,” he said. “It was definitely funny to watch, but it was also good to see the diversity on campus.”

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/02/13/kiss-ho-plaza-protests-sexuality-bias-valentines-day

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Note: No casting asparagus on Ryan Swisher, a heterosexual onlooker. Thank you.

Also, "Ho Plaza" was named for the Ho family, who have had 5 Hos graduate from Cornell, and thus generously donated money for the Plaza's construction.

:)

http://www.cornell.edu/visiting/ithaca/live_views.cfm?viewtype=static

:toast:

"glorious to view" (fellow alumni will recognize that - to think it used to be more of a driveway/parking lot)

I remember the clock would be orange for Halloween (and I want to say green for St. Patty's Day?)

:evilgrin:

Lift the chorus, speed it onward,
Loud her praises tell.
Hail to thee, our Alma Mater,
Hail, all hail, Cornell!

When I lived in Rochester, weekend drives around the Finger Lakes was a favorite (non-wintertime) activity. Cornell, Bully Hill, Corning, Skaneatlas, Canandagua, etc.

:9

I remember doing events like this in college. They had to be sudden, unannounced events because we would immediately be chased away by violently angry fraternity boys. (probably jealous that we weren't available.)

I'm glad they can organize these things a bit better, get more publicity, and have less chance of violence. It means we're succeeding, little by little, showing people that our love is just as normal as theirs. :)

:woohoo:

XOXOX

was a student ran but university funded group at Oregon State University circa 1995.

Can't quite recall if the name was Society or Association or whatever but the Perv was a Perv and not Pervert.

I became aware of them walking across campus in a quad full of booths for a Spring Event where prospective students visit with their parents. Totally cracked me up and laughed all day and came home and told my wife (we were near 50 with a teenage daughter) but liberal and straight and from N CA) and laughed some more especially thinking of those parents about to send their babies to university.

There was a young fellow that kept the computers functioning for my home office (in fact he first connected me with the interent via Mosaic and usenet in 1994). My now exe was a mothering type and she knew he was far from home and we three liked him so usually when I had a pc problem he would end up for dinner and my exe and he both had a fetish for Steven Seagal movies (and I had no interest).

So it was also a pc tech and Seagal night at home that day too. The PC tech came out to us that night as gay and we all laughed some more as he was "Vice Perv"(or the "bottom" IIRC)and did their webpage as well as one on WonderWoman. He was about 6"3", bearded, and very athletic and a grad student in Computer Science at OSU. My own gaydar had no clue. This entire scene was really hilarious.