I am writing this letter to, in some sense, clear up some things stated in last week's article by Carlos Zapata about Bilaga and gays at WPI. I was interviewed as "Kevin" in the aforementioned story. It was insinuated that I was very nervous about doing such an interview; in reality, I stated that I did not care whether my name was used or not, and actually would have rather used my real name. I certainly do not subscribe to the idea that one should be ashamed of being gay. I would just like to state that not every gay person lives in fear of people finding out...far from it. It is not some "dark secret." And certainly, this campus is not the most open-minded on such issues, but I believe most prejudice stems from a lack of knowledge. One does not gain knowledge about the world around them by reading stories about people with fake names. They gain knowledge by relating to someone and realizing that their differences are far outnumbered by their similarities.
I want to correct a statement in which I was misquoted. I never claimed that one in 10 people is gay; I stated that one in ten people are gay or bisexual, with the number of actual gay people being perhaps 4 or 5 percent. This figure is cited in the Kinsey Report, not to mention other scientific studies. I felt while reading the article that many would question the validity of the "one in ten" statement, and I just wanted to clarify what I actually said.
In some sections of the interview, I was not quoted directly, but for the most part, it was accurate. I just wanted to clear up those few problems I had with the article. The article was on diversity at WPI; well, in his or her own way, each and every one of us contributes to the diverse atmosphere of this campus. That should be our strength, not our weakness.
Brian Charest '96
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