Just Because
Parents use Facebook to screen out gay roommates
Parents use Facebook to Screen Out Gay Roommates
Parents are increasingly screening the Facebook profile of their kids' future college roommates, and are asking schools to change the assignment based upon what they discover online.
"They were getting an impression - false or accurate - of what the student would be like to live with," says Magda Manetas of The College of New Jersey in Ewing to USA TODAY.
Housing officials say parents who cite Facebook most frequently mention party-related content and photos as their primary concerns. Parents sometimes see cups in photos and make the leap to alcohol and drugs, Manetas says.
But Robin Berkowitz-Smith of Syracuse University says race, religion and sexual orientation are the top three concerns from parents contacting officials there.
Maureen Wark of Suffolk University in Boston also ranked sexual orientation as a top concern of parents. Wark recalls getting a call from a parent who had "psychological and sanitary concerns" about a student's new roommates, both of whom were gay men.
"People don't give other people a chance," she says.
Most of the schools contacted by USA TODAY say they have not made roommate changes as a result of such calls from parents.
Administrators at some schools have begun to talk to students and parents in advance about the tendency to look up roommates online. Paul Evans of the University of Wisconsin-Madison now includes a statement about social-networking sites in orientation literature for first-year students.
"It can be a problem, and we're just trying to warn people about taking everything that they see on there as fact," he says.
I don't think that many schools would actually change a person's roommate because they believe that the intended roommate is gay/of another race/or religion, but I do think that it will definitely send the roommate in their with preconceived notions of the other person and stunt the relationship. I also think that just because they don't outright prevent them from being roommates doesn't mean that they will be roommates for very long. At MC you just have to wait a couple of weeks to move out without giving a reason. I'm sure there are similar arrangements at other schools. I wonder how many students are using Facebook TO find gay roommates. Or even "roommates."
Church cancels funeral for gay man
Church cancels funeral for gay man
13th August 2007 16:17
Simon Ruse
A Texas church withdrew an offer to host a funeral once they found out the deceased was gay.
Cecil Sinclair died last Monday, aged 46, and Arlington's High Point Church cancelled its invitation to host the service on Wednesday. The service was planned for Thursday.
An arrangement had been made for the church to provide a memorial service, photo presentation and feed guests.
However, the church decided to retract its offer when officials saw the photos submitted for the photo presentation.
"Some of those photos had very strong homosexual images of kissing and hugging. My ministry associates were taken aback," Rev Gary Simons, head of the church, told Dallasnews.com.
According to Khou.com, the family insists the CD it gave the church did not contain such images.
Kathleen Wright, sister of Cecil, told The Associated Press:
"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you.'"
Mr Simons defended the church’s decision at Sunday's Mass. He is quoted by Dallasnews.com as saying:
"This decision was not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy, We cannot glorify homosexuality as a lifestyle.
"The Bible does say it's wrong, You wouldn't go to someone's
house who doesn't smoke and smoke there."
The church had initially offered to host a service because Mr Sinclair's brother is a janitor for the church.
A minister was sent to the family's home immediately after his death and the church had been praying for him for six years.
Mr Simons told The Associated Press that the church wouldn't have offered to host the service if it had known Mr Sinclair's sexual orientation.
"Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it - yes, we would have declined then. It's not that we didn't love the family."
Cecil Sinclair, a navy veteran, died of an infection while waiting for a heart transplant.
His funeral service was eventually held at a Arlington funeral home.
This just made me sad. I hope some amazing church (or amazingly unexpected church) steps in and performs the services that the one in the article refused to do.
Parents use Facebook to Screen Out Gay Roommates
Parents are increasingly screening the Facebook profile of their kids' future college roommates, and are asking schools to change the assignment based upon what they discover online.
"They were getting an impression - false or accurate - of what the student would be like to live with," says Magda Manetas of The College of New Jersey in Ewing to USA TODAY.
Housing officials say parents who cite Facebook most frequently mention party-related content and photos as their primary concerns. Parents sometimes see cups in photos and make the leap to alcohol and drugs, Manetas says.
But Robin Berkowitz-Smith of Syracuse University says race, religion and sexual orientation are the top three concerns from parents contacting officials there.
Maureen Wark of Suffolk University in Boston also ranked sexual orientation as a top concern of parents. Wark recalls getting a call from a parent who had "psychological and sanitary concerns" about a student's new roommates, both of whom were gay men.
"People don't give other people a chance," she says.
Most of the schools contacted by USA TODAY say they have not made roommate changes as a result of such calls from parents.
Administrators at some schools have begun to talk to students and parents in advance about the tendency to look up roommates online. Paul Evans of the University of Wisconsin-Madison now includes a statement about social-networking sites in orientation literature for first-year students.
"It can be a problem, and we're just trying to warn people about taking everything that they see on there as fact," he says.
I don't think that many schools would actually change a person's roommate because they believe that the intended roommate is gay/of another race/or religion, but I do think that it will definitely send the roommate in their with preconceived notions of the other person and stunt the relationship. I also think that just because they don't outright prevent them from being roommates doesn't mean that they will be roommates for very long. At MC you just have to wait a couple of weeks to move out without giving a reason. I'm sure there are similar arrangements at other schools. I wonder how many students are using Facebook TO find gay roommates. Or even "roommates."
Church cancels funeral for gay man
Church cancels funeral for gay man
13th August 2007 16:17
Simon Ruse
A Texas church withdrew an offer to host a funeral once they found out the deceased was gay.
Cecil Sinclair died last Monday, aged 46, and Arlington's High Point Church cancelled its invitation to host the service on Wednesday. The service was planned for Thursday.
An arrangement had been made for the church to provide a memorial service, photo presentation and feed guests.
However, the church decided to retract its offer when officials saw the photos submitted for the photo presentation.
"Some of those photos had very strong homosexual images of kissing and hugging. My ministry associates were taken aback," Rev Gary Simons, head of the church, told Dallasnews.com.
According to Khou.com, the family insists the CD it gave the church did not contain such images.
Kathleen Wright, sister of Cecil, told The Associated Press:
"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you.'"
Mr Simons defended the church’s decision at Sunday's Mass. He is quoted by Dallasnews.com as saying:
"This decision was not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy, We cannot glorify homosexuality as a lifestyle.
"The Bible does say it's wrong, You wouldn't go to someone's
house who doesn't smoke and smoke there."
The church had initially offered to host a service because Mr Sinclair's brother is a janitor for the church.
A minister was sent to the family's home immediately after his death and the church had been praying for him for six years.
Mr Simons told The Associated Press that the church wouldn't have offered to host the service if it had known Mr Sinclair's sexual orientation.
"Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it - yes, we would have declined then. It's not that we didn't love the family."
Cecil Sinclair, a navy veteran, died of an infection while waiting for a heart transplant.
His funeral service was eventually held at a Arlington funeral home.
This just made me sad. I hope some amazing church (or amazingly unexpected church) steps in and performs the services that the one in the article refused to do.