Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Baylor Bans Starbuck Coffee Gay Quote. What's The Big Deal?

Most of you probably have heard or read by now that Baylor University, Texas, has decided to NOT allow Starbucks coffee cups with a quote from Armistead Maupin, a gay writer, to be sold on campus. The quote from Maupin that is on the coffee cups is, "My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short." The decision by Baylor is causing an uproar by gays all over America. To me, a gay man who also gets disgusted by all the anti-gay propaganda and actions in this country, it's no big deal. Baylor University is afterall, a Baptist university. It is a private institution. It can make its on choice on what it wants to sell on campus or not. If this were a public institution I may feel differently. If Starbucks itself said they were not going to allow any of the cups with Maupin's quote on it to be sold, I would be upset. My first thought about the whole issue was, "just boycott Starbucks!" But, it really isn't Starbucks fault either. If the people who attend Baylor aren't that upset with the university's decision, and I am not sure what the overall feeling is there, then I'm not going to upset with it either. I am not attending Baylor. But if the students/professors on Baylor's campus are that angry at the decision, then they need to do something. It is their decision to be at Baylor, and only their actions that can change the university's policy.

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