Gay speaker's message hits responsive chord

By Federico Martinez, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER WITH LOCAL REPORTS

A look of terror and desperation overcame the 19-year-old Whitehall woman visiting Muskegon Community College Tuesday night.

"Please, you can't print my name in the newspaper," the frightened teen-ager said. "I'm in a real tough time right now. I haven't told my parents yet that I'm a lesbian."

She was one of more than 80 people who had just listened to renowned gay speaker Marc Adams share his story of growing up in a fundamentalist household and how he came to terms with his gay identity.

"It's easy to feel guilty about being gay," Adams told the audience. "Because there is no representation of gay people. The religious and political leaders in this country have done a good job of making sure there are no good images of gay people out there."

Adams' visit was intended to expose MCC students to different ideas and provide an opportunity to address and discuss the issue of homosexuality, said Keith St. Clair, a social sciences instructor at MCC. The department coordinated Adams' appearance.

"I think Marc's speech went very well," said Jay Zarowitz, chairman of the college's social sciences department, following the speech. "A lot of people at the college were very nervous about tonight. But I think it showed that Muskegon is sophisticated enough to handle controversial issues."

Adams and his partner, Todd Tuttle, a former Baptist minister, two years ago formed "HeartStrong," a support organization that primarily visits gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-change students at conservative religious schools, colleges and universities.

HeartStrong was formed to combat what Adams called "fundamentalist brainwashing" that makes young people feel frightened and guilty because they are gay.

Those feelings are familiar to him, said Adams, the son of a fundamentalist Baptist minister, who once attempted to deal with his guilt by undergoing a controversial religious conversion believed to help people become "ex-gay."

Adams' message was cheered loudly by 17-year-old Muskegon High School senior Steve Rainwater and 19-year-old Megan Arthur, a Muskegon High School graduate.

"It was really great that they have the courage to stand up for us and fight," Rainwater said, following Adams' speech. "They're saying it's OK to be gay."

Rainwater and Arthur said they and other gay students at their high school began seeking each other out a couple years ago and formed their own informal support network. Being supportive boosted each other's self-confidence and made it easier to come out at school, Rainwater said.

"It's not a bad atmosphere at my high school," said Rainwater. "Just being able to walk through my high school and be accepted as being gay has helped me grow up and be stable."

Adams' and Tuttle's self-acceptance took several years longer. The pair met in the late 1980s while both were attending Liberty University, a conservative religious school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Adams and Tuttle said they now reject the fundamentalist position that being gay is wrong.

"I don't believe the Bible should be taken as the literal word of God," said Adams. "It's not just because I'm gay. There's some very interesting things in the Bible. The Bible believes in slavery and the oppression of women. I believed a lot of the people who wrote in the Bible were just sharing their own personal journey."

Adams' views on the Bible rankled several MCC students in attendance.

Two MCC students, psychology majors who said they are Christians, took exception to the assertion that the Bible isn't the literal word of God.

The two female students, who declined to give their names, said they also were upset because their attendance at Adam's speech was made mandatory by their psychology instructor.

"I felt they were very biased," said one of the students. "All they did was bash Christians."

Frank Marczak, president of MCC, said instructors often require students to attend a speech or other event as a class assignment. But Marczak said he doubts all students enrolled in MCC's psychology or sociology courses were required to attend Adams' speech Tuesday.

Marczak said he talked to one student headed to the speech, and she said her instructor told students it was an optional, extra-credit assignment.

Tamaya Haase, a 19-year-old MCC psychology major, said she thought Adams' message was important for students to hear, even though her religious beliefs differed from his.

"I thought it was good for the college," said Haase. "One thing that bothered me was Adams said he believed being gay was due to nature. I think a lot of gay people come from bad relationships. I think it has a lot to do with the environment and community you come from."

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