human or the 'other'?

I don't honestly think I'll write too much tonight. I do have a bunch of other stuff I need to work on plus I need sleep.
However some things do need to be said.

This past weekend was the Unity Conference at UNC-CH. This is, I believe, one of the biggest GLBTIQ conferences in the south-east, and it's put on by a college.

The weekend events and workshops were all really cool, but Sunday something happened that I wasn't present for but heard about from people who were at the morning workshop sessions. That same weekend, another organization was having a conference. I believe it was Model United Nations. Anyway they noticed the names of some of the workshops and gathered outside the hall and began chanting homophobic things. At one room they began pounding on the door. The director of the conference and the attendees were appalled. I discovered this at the event later that day, around 1:40, when the director of the conference (also a student at UNC) mentioned the occurence.
He had talked to the director, he said, and they intend to address the issue of homophobia and apologize at their keynote speaker event.
Behind me, I heard a jaded comment. "Yeah right."

I don't know how to say what I want to say in any different terms than anyone else has. I wish people would seriously look at how they treat each other and how they address people.
I think there is a serious tendency for us to think of the world in US vs. THEM terms. There's also a tendency to see people in "other" terms. This is most obvious with race. White=the normal skin color. Any differentiation from average white characteristics become "other" and in some minds becomes "less than."
I'm going to leave a link here that will address this issue from the point of view of personal experiences. If you read this blog, then go to this site and read the comments. (I mean read--not skim.)
And definitely think about whether you've ever been hurt by something someone has said to you regarding gender or sexuality --and in addition to that think of whether you have done any of the hurting.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
-Elie Wiesel