There are many common reasons why prospective students choose Carleton University as their academic home for four to five years of their lives. For some, that reason could be the various varsity sports teams, academic program quality or the plethora of academic and non-academic resources that are offered to students of all backgrounds. This includes of course, the resources offered by the Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC), specifically to students who identify as LGBTQ+ here on campus.
According to the GSRC website, resources offered include peer mentorship, referrals, safe sex supplies, drop-in programs and plenty of social events. With that being said, recent actions have made me question whether the GSRC has forgotten its roots as it increasingly leans towards becoming a campus advocacy group.
On Aug. 28, the centre’s co-ordinators posted the following statement on the GSRC’s Facebook page: “Hi there folks, we just wish to reiterate that we stand with Black Lives Matter and that if anyone has an issue with that movement and their actions, to come and talk with us. If you post any content against the movement, it will be deleted”. Of course, this statement is very problematic for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, the GSRC is a resource centre and considering part of every student’s tuition goes into funding it, the GSRC should remain neutral in regards to supporting a controversial advocacy group such as BLM. One thing that the GSRC was always complimented on in the past was its activity on campus by impartially supporting students through the resources that it offered. The GSRC should focus on what they are good at, which is supporting students through resources and services, not by taking sides on controversial issues and utilizing petty tactics to portray a leftist narrative.
Secondly, this statement promotes the open use of censorship. Considering the GSRC’s statement is politically rooted, it should expect and welcome argument, debate and discussion, especially those that are against the Black Lives Matter movement. They should not delete and censor things that students (who fund their centre) say or post online that counter their support for a controversial group unless it is rooted in hateful language.
The GSRC’s openness to censorship is reminiscent of bigger societal instances of censorship, where freedom of thought, expression and speech is limited in order to sustain a narrative that would otherwise be rejected by the public. It is interesting how the GSRC condemns authoritative countries that impose mass censorship on its people, while in the same breath, imposes a different type of censorship on the Carleton community. After all, it was only after the post received criticism that the GSRC finally edited the Facebook post in question to exclude the last sentence, which clearly promoted the use of censorship.
As a gay man myself, I am not only disappointed by the recent actions of the GSRC, but I am also ashamed to be represented by a student-funded resource centre that openly encourages censorship against those who oppose its narrative. I always thought that university campuses were a safe space for those to voice their opinions no matter how unpopular they may be; however, that no longer seems to be the case. Organizations that bathe in leftist ideology such as the GSRC always preaches the acceptance of others regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, and ability. Nevertheless, when it comes to accepting others with a different opinion, leftist organizations like the GSRC, use censorship to extinguish opposing thought.
I hope the GSRC apologizes for issuing that statement and focuses on providing students with the services and the support they truly need. The GSRC cannot completely support all students if they continue to take sides on political issues and isolate/censor students who disagree with them. I hope that the GSRC and its executives remember the true reason why the resource centre was created in the first place and direct all attention back to the students they claim to serve.
