PFLAG National Blog: A More Suitable Person, Please

“They’re very mean,” Phyllis Schlafly, the mother of a gay son, once said when someone asked her what she thought of the GLBT community. “[J]ust . . . vicious. ”
So just imagine how so many students at the Washington University felt when they learned that Ms. Schalfly, founder of the ultra-conservative, anti-gay Eagle Forum, is scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from the school at their May 16 commencement ceremony.
Schlafly, who first rose to national prominence by opposing the Equal Rights Amendment, and went on to make a career out of gay-bashing, misogyny and attacking immigrant Americans, is also scheduled to speak at the May 16 event, and students and faculty are organizing to press the school to rescind its decision to give Phyllis a Ph.D.
And today, PFLAG and our St. Louis chapter are proud to join those on the ground in Missouri and call on school officials to do the right thing and, as executive director Jody Huckaby said today, “find a more suitable person to applaud.”
More than 1,000 Washington University students and faculty, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, have organized via Facebook to rally opposition to Schlafly’s proposed degree. And the school, so far, has defended its decision, telling reporters that Schlafly has “become part of the broad public discourse on vital issues of the times.”
But neither the students nor PFLAG are saying Schlafly shouldn’t be allowed to speak. We’re saying her discourse renders her unworthy of a Ph.D.
Consider, for a moment, some of Phyllis’ phrases about the GLBT and women’s communities:
On California’s SB-77, to protect GLBT students: The legislation “represent[s] a repudiation of 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching on human sexuality, marriage, and the family. The result is that California’s schools are now promoting behaviors and lifestyles that are physically and spiritually dangerous for children.”
On the idea of any protections for GLBT youth: “The bottom line is, don’t count on the courts to protect public school students from being subjected to the promotion of homosexuality.”
On sexual harassment laws: “Sexual harassment on the job is not a problem for virtuous women.”
On the Equal Rights Amendment: “ERA means abortion funding, means homosexual privileges, means whatever else.”
And the list goes on. “Phyllis Schlafly,” as our St. Louis chapter president Dr. Dean L. Rosen said today, “has spent much of her life on a crusade to roll back opportunities for millions of people, including many of the students at Washington University. . . . As parents and allies of GLBT young people, we are alarmed that Washington University would honor someone who has such a long track record of attacking our children.”
And while Phyllis has a right to philosophize on whatever she may choose, when it comes time to pick a person to honor with an honorary degree, we urge Washington University to find a more suitable person . . . please.
PFLAG Blog