Seeking Catholic
acceptance

Faggot. Queer. Homo. White walls stained red with ink--the words were everywhere. I returned to my dorm room during my freshman year at Seton Hall University in northern New Jersey to discover that I had become the victim of a hate crime. That day would shape the rest of my experience here. As college students go I'm about as normal as you can get. I'm a hockey goalie, a musician, and an activist. But I'm also an openly gay junior at a Catholic university. I decided to attend Seton Hall and start a group for gay students and allies since it was a school that boasted about acceptance and tolerance and had a policy against antigay discrimination. Having been closeted in high school, I knew the importance of making friends. But my proposal to form Trust, Respect, and Unity at the Hall in November 2003 was rejected. "No group based solely upon sexual orientation may receive formal University recognition," wrote the vice president for student affairs. There are things in life we can compromise, but our dignity is not one of them, so I rejected any proposal that would offer gay students less than what other students already had, and I filed suit against Seton Hall last March. I'm not asking for money, attention, or fame. I just want the students at Seton Hall to be able to endure together what I've endured alone. My case, Romeo v. Seton Hall University, will soon be before the state appellate court. It is expected to make its way to New Jersey's highest court and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court. As a freshman at Seton Hall I learned our school's motto: Hazard Zet Forward. It's Old English meaning, "In spite of the risks, move forward." My hope is that I can help gay students do that together.