On his March 8 Viewpoint, Douglas Zabrowski proclaimed his dismay that Marquette varied from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its acceptance of organizations for homosexuals on campus. Apparently, the existence of such organizations at Marquette marks the defining difference between his experience at Marquette and that of his earlier years at Catholic schools.

I attended a Catholic high school and can definitely relate to Zabrowski's contention that the environment was far from diverse. After graduating, I heard stories that a handful of students from my graduating class had come out of the closet. This is not a coincidence. Could that be because those institutions stigmatize homosexual students, and that they are actually protecting themselves from inevitable harassment or isolation?

Another serious problem with this Viewpoint comes in the form of Zabrowski's suggestion that Marquette should counsel members of homosexual organizations. What an absurd notion. Should we expect that all the homosexuals on campus attend weekly indoctrinations in order to convert back to heterosexuality? That's not the way it works. Not even close. The only appropriate form of counseling for homosexuals on campus would be related to persevering constant right-wing religious criticism. Also, it seems a little too convenient that Zabrowski continues by suggesting that these organizations be "small and private." That sounds like "out of sight out of mind" to me.

Furthermore, I had some difficulty finding anything about the "five non-negotiable issues" in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Actually, those issues were provided by Catholic Answers, in a pamphlet entitled, "Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics." Catholic Answers is one of the nation's largest lay-run apostates of Catholic apologetics and evangelization. (For those interested in more juicy propaganda, check out their Answer Guide concerning gay marriage at www.catholic.com.) In short, these "issues" were provided for Catholic voters who needed a viable explanation for joining the Bush camp in the 2004 election.

Lastly, I would like to provide a personal experience that raised my hopes concerning the state of the Marquette community. I showed up early for a class one afternoon and found myself in the midst of a discussion on Zabrowski's Viewpoint. Before today, my only connection to the other students in my class was that we shared a classroom for two and a half hours a week. I found that nearly everyone felt the need to comment on the ridiculous notions presented in the article. After everyone presented his or her remarks, one girl stated that she was pleasantly surprised that other students shared her convictions concerning discriminatory views of homosexuals on campus.

To those classmates, thank you. It's comforting to know that there are some reasonable people at Marquette.

Brian Montovan is a senior psychology major.

This viewpoint appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 17 2005.