Pride and Prejudice

ESPN senior correspondent and CNN contributor LZ Granderson rose to the podium as Colby Pride Week’s keynote speaker April 18. He spoke about former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s homophobic rhetoric, demystifying the so-called “gay lifestyle,” and the beauty of being black.

“I will always be the kind of writer who will say what you don’t want me to say,” said Granderson, though he seems to do so in a respectful, humorous way. Granderson uses the term “brothers and sisters” to refer not to the black or LGBTQ communities but to humanity in general.

To Santorum’s conservative view that the “gay lifestyle” poses a threat to the American way of life, Granderson responds with a smile. “I’m like, well, shit, I don’t want to damage my country,” he said, joking about the harmlessness of his three-person family. “What can I do to stop me?”

But joking aside, Granderson advised students to stay positive and respectful when facing the opposition and ignorance of the antigay movement. “To negate their humanity,” he said, “ also negates my own.”

Granderson commended the Bridge, Colby’s all-inclusive queer and ally community, for its impressive presence on campus. “You have a lot here to be really proud of,” he said. “I see a lot of campuses that are not nearly as progressive as you are.”

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