The response to the homophobic article published in Outlook (as well as the ridiculous response to it by the Editorial Board) continues to grow, and many good things have come as a result of it.
This may just be the most important though: Over 60 AUB faculty and staff members have come together to release a clear statement against the article and against hate and bigotry. This shows that a great number of faculty members have decided to stand in support of AUB’s LGBT community, and more importantly, against hate of any kind. The signatories include people from every faculty on campus, as well as the Dean of Student Affairs.
Here’s the letter: (and please share it as much as you can to reach all of the people that were affected by Outlook’s horrible post)
If you would like to add your name to the list, or if you’re interested in being a part of the work that is coming together as a result of this, please send an email to AUBGSA8@gmail.com.
Subject: Hate speech and bigotry on AUB campus
This letter is in response to the homophobic article published in Outlook titled “Please me at any price” (Issue #21, Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012, http://issuu.com/outlook-aub/docs/issue_21_44/15)
As members of the AUB community, we are committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity and ethics and should ensure our students do the same. The article in Outlook goes against basic human values in general and those of AUB in particular.
A respectful, fact-based discussion of issues is not only necessary for the development of any society but is core to AUB’s mission statement of seeking to “foster tolerance and respect for diversity and dialogue. Graduates will be individuals committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.”
Bigotry and hate speech should not be given a platform to thrive. Such speech should be denounced swiftly, publicly, and unequivocally.
AUB is not immune from society’s discriminatory and prejudiced opinions, but it is our duty as faculty and staff to create a safe space for all our students to express themselves while encouraging and developing a critical, informed, and compassionate student body.
The right to exercise free speech and expression should not come at the expense of targeting any group, including but not limited to: gender, color, religious belief, or sexual orientation. This freedom should not inflict nor incite harm; and it should maintain the respect for and the rights of others.
We are AUB faculty and staff who want to express our rejection of any intolerant and hateful speech while maintaining our commitment to the right of everyone to freedom of expression, and underscoring the important responsibility that comes along with this freedom.
Sincerely,
1. Haitham Khoury, Assistant Professor, OSB
– Lina Daouk-Oyry, Assistant Professor, OSB
– Ramzi Mabsout, Assistant Professor, Economics/FAS
– Rola Yasmine, Research Assistant, FHS
– Charlotte Karam, Assistant Professor, OSB
– Nidal Najjar, Assistant Professor, Psychology/FAS
– Carole Levesque, Assistant Professor, Architecture/FEA
– Bana Bashour, Assistant Professor, Philosophy/FAS
– Victor Araman, Assistant Professor, OSB
10. Hala Ghattas, Assistant Professor, Community Nutrition/FAFS
– Pia Zaynoun, Psychometrician, AUBMC
– Talal Nezameddin, Dean of Student Affairs
– Raymond Brassier, Chair, Philosophy/FAS
– Hans Muller, Associate Professor, Philosophy/FAS
– Nadiya Slobodenyuk, Assistant Professor, Psychology/FAS
– Lina Choueiri, Assistant Professor, English/FAS
– Thomas Kim, Chair, Fine Arts and Art History/FAS
– Syrine Hout, Associate Professor, English/FAS
– Johnpedro Schwartz, Assistant Professor, English/FAS
20. Michael James Dennison, Assistant Professor, English/FAS
– Kasper Kovitz, Assistant Professor, Fine Arts and Art History/FAS
– Robert Myers, Professor, English/FAS
– Alexander Hartwiger, Assistant Professor, English/FAS
– Karim Barakat, Instructor, Philosophy/FAS
– Rima Akkary Karami, Assistant Professor, Education/FAS
– Kristen Scheid, Assistant Professor, Anthropology/FAS
– Sawsan Abdulrahim, Assistant Professor, FHS
– Bashshar Haydar, Professor, Philosophy/FAS
– Christopher Johns, Assistant Professor, Philosophy/FAS
30. Mayssun Succarie, Visiting Assistant Professor, CAMES/FAS
– Tariq Mehmood Ali, Visiting Assistant Professor, English/FAS
– Sari Hanafi, Professor, Sociology, Anthropology, and Mass Communications/FAS
– Rima Afifi, Professor, Health Promotion and Community Health/FHS
– Faysal El Kak, Senior Lecturer, FHS
– Suzann Kassem, Program Coordinator, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs
– Nate George, Instructor, English/FAS
– Livia Wick, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies/FAS
– Samer Jabbour, Senior Lecturer, Public Health/FHS
– Ruba Ismail-Hamadeh, Instructor & Program Administrator, Center for Research on Population and Health, FHS
40. Nisreen Salti, Assistant Professor, Economics/FHS
– Rima Nakkash, Assistant Professor, Health Promotion and Community Health/FHS
– Omar Dewachi, Assistant Professor, Public Health/FHS
– Mayada Kanj, Coordinator, Health Promotion and Community Health/FHS
– Nasser Yassin, Assistant Professor, FHS
– Ghalya Saadawi, Instructor, Psychology/FAS
– Amy A. Zenger, Associate Professor, English/FAS
– Jasmina Najjar, Instructor, English/FAS
– Leila Khauli-Hanna, Instructor/OSB
– Mona Fawaz, Associate Professor, Architecture and Design/FEA
50. Mariana Yazbek, Instructor/FAFS
– Alain Shihadeh, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering/FEA
– George Arbid, Associate Professor, Architecture/FEA
– Sirene Harb, Associate Professor, English/FAS
– Margherita Abi-Hanna, Instructor, Architecture and Design/FEA
– Bilal Orfali, Assistant Professor, Arabic and NEL/FAS
– Ahmad Gharbieh, Instructor, Architecture and Design/FEA
– Maya Saikali, Instructor, Architecture and Design/FEA
– Rima Rantisi, Instructor, English/FAS
– Mihran Gurunian, Lecturer and Lab Engineer/FEA/ECE
60. Hatem Imam, Lecturer, Architecture and Design/FEA
– Nuhad Yazbit Dumit, Co-Director, Continuing Medical Education Office/FM, CE/Off-Shore Program Coordinator, HSoN
– Jad Chaaban, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs/FAFS
– Bettina Bastian, Assistant Professor, OSB
– Hagop Panossian, Instructor, OSB
– Casto Martin Montero Kuscevic, Assistant Professor, Economics/FAS
– Mona Harb, Associate Professor, Urban Studies and Politics, Architecture and Design/FEA
ohmyhappiness 
HummusForThought
May 30, 2012
Great job.
zein
May 30, 2012
best response to such an illogical misinformed and hateful article. I still believe more actions should be taken against it and the “writer”
Mona Saab
May 30, 2012
I’ve never been more proud of my alma mater! I feel I can hold my head up being an AUB alumna! Well done, AUB, on the stand you’ve taken.
Alice C.
May 30, 2012
Since there’s a heap of active responses varying from extreme negative to optimistic positive, the LGBT community and other supportive communities need to organize events, speeches, and other forms of informative media approaches to start eliminating historic stereotypes and replace them with constructive ones.
It is such a critical time right now to start showing Lebanon what a true LGBT community stands for, strives for, and can contribute to society. Strike while the iron is hot! AUB’s reply is an excellent starting point and benchmark. Work forward!
Real Human
May 30, 2012
all of u acting responsible and open-minded
Would u accept you mom/dad/sisters/brother be gay/lesbian
would you accept your children to bi gay/lesbian
goo all f*ck yourselves.. or wait
let someone from your sex and sick like you rape you 🙂
may ya all burn in hell 🙂
Alice C.
May 30, 2012
Dear Real Human,
You seem to have a keen interest in sticking your nose in business that is, clearly, of your utmost interest. I don’t blame you for your aggressive reply to a university letter that was clearly written for educated people.
Would I accept having a gay sibling? Yes; infact I do have a gay brother. Do you understand the difference in mind frames between yourself and myself? Do you sense how much more love I posses as opposed to your growling hate?
I suggest you try to love yourself a little more, perhaps you’ll be able to love those around you. Therapy might help heal your battered soul as well.
L
May 30, 2012
Your name is pretty much paradoxical and ironic compared to your message.First off,if you’re going to try to form an argument,use proper English,not something that a closed-minded,immature 7th grader would use.Second of all,yes,if my sister came out to me,I would support her 100%.Oh and one more thing,didn’t you notice that the majority of rape cases are committed by the member of one sex towards the other?Hmm?The only person who seems to be sick over here is you.We’re not the bigoted,xenophobic ones over here,and I strongly doubt that someone as respectable and as educated as a college professor would be ‘sick’,and that a lowly disrespectful ‘Real Human’ such as yourself is sane.Kindly find a life and take your homophobic hatred elsewhere.
Regards,
A REAL HUMAN WITH A HEART.
Wink
May 31, 2012
Dear Real Human,
Your brain is under developed: Such hatred cannot be carried with you for life otherwise it will exhaust you.
You do need professional help.
In the meantime, try sucking on a lollipop. it’s a good start.
John
May 31, 2012
Maybe you should repeat these statements in front of the nearest mirror! Do you have dead air between your ears or what?
Queerious
May 31, 2012
“The right to exercise free speech and expression should not come at the expense of targeting any group, including but not limited to: gender, color, religious belief, or sexual orientation. This freedom should not inflict nor incite harm; and it should maintain the respect for and the rights of others.” quoted from the above response.
Right. Let us be constructive in forging a common frame for the different value systems in clash here:
I say I have the right to be openly gay (right to exercise free expression).
But I also say the writer has the right to voice a religious, cultural, or personal opinion against mine (right to exercise free speech).
What do you say?
Is it hate speech to disagree with or even disapprove of my sexual orientation?
As is it hate speech if I disagreed with or even disapproved of the writer’s religious belief?
Would you, therefore, consider the possibility that the faculty’s response to his article might be inconsistent with the very premise they founded their argument on (reproduced at the beginning of my contribution here)?
Cheers
ohmyhappiness
May 31, 2012
Hey Queerious! You forgot to read the first part of the section you quoted:
“should not come at the expense of targeting any group, including but not limited to: gender, color, religious belief, or sexual orientation. This freedom should not inflict nor incite harm; and it should maintain the respect for and the rights of others.”
Freedom of speech should not be used to target vulnerable groups, or to incite harm on a specific group.
I’m not sure how any of this is inconsistent.
Alice C.
May 31, 2012
Queerious, I completely understand your point of view and you do have a valid point. However, when an individual expresses themselves in writing, it is merely expressing yourself from verbal language into written language. The only difference, our words are thought out from beforehand and written down. We all should have the right to state our opinion; regardless of which side we take.
The difference is, would you spend time listening to a person talk to you in a hateful and deragotroy manner? Would you stand for listening to somone spew racist remarks and illogical arguments that stem from no higher level reasoning?-as opposed to researched, cultured and tolerant arguments?
For example, Real Human could have stated his inclination towards heterosexuality in a more acceptable manner andcould have told us why he/she feels the way they do. Just like verbal words, instead he/she chose heated ones and arguments that have no reliable and trusthworthy connotations. Hence, this makes him/her a target for retaliation even though they are merely stating their opion.
laggeri
May 31, 2012
Queerious, you make a generally valid point, but in this case it doesn’t apply. Precisely because the piece that started this story did not voice an opinion against another opinion. It voiced an opinion against the very existence, or the right to exist, of people who have a different opinion from him. If he had voiced an opinion against another opinion, then there could have been an educated or at the least an interesting discussion.
Instead the newspaper staff writer made disparaging statements against his fellow humans, describing them as non-rational, uncivilized beings not fit to be a part of “his” society/ civilization. Furthermore, he based these hateful characterizations on false information that he presented as medical & legal facts. Personally, I was dismayed that such poorly crafted writing was considered publishable by a university newspaper, when in any composition class it would not receive a passing grade. The editor herself was forced to admit it was a case of miseducation (sic). I wonder how the student newspaper selects its staff writers, when it’s clear the writer in question lacked expository writing skills, let alone knowledge of the basic principles of journalism.
moudz
May 31, 2012
Makes me proud that I’ve been taught by at least ten of these faculty members 🙂
Daisy
June 1, 2012
I’m so proud of all the faculty members who signed! On another note, I hate to be nit-picky, but you have Rima Rantisi listed twice
ohmyhappiness
June 2, 2012
You’re right. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve fixed that.
Rabih EL Darwiche
June 6, 2012
I believe one of AUB’s roles is to promote ethics, tolerance and anti-discrimination. What we are witnessing here is discrimination against homosexuality. Religion, Ethnic, Gender, Age can constitute other forms of discrimination.
Yes, this is a hate speech, coming from a student from the American University of Beirut, one of the most prestigious institutions in higher education. It is shocking. But it should create a sense of urgency to redefine the role of Higher Education in promoting civic values. There should be a better awareness of this issue, I recommend to establish a mandatory course on Ethics and any form of Anti-Discrimination. Any student or staff should take this course and take a test (can be done online) to ensure that key messages from AUB Management are communicated to AUB Staff & Students.
Promoting human values and ethics is a pre-requisite for any sustainable institution… AUB is supposed to inspire the community..
Rabi El Darwiche
Reeva M
December 9, 2022
Great read thhank you