Indiana University Orders Prof's Homophobic Postings Removed From Web
Fri. September 5, 2003 12:00 AM by 365gay.com
Bloomington, Indiana -
Indiana University has removed gay-hate postings by a professor to a Web log that was hosted on the school's server.
Professor Eric Rasmusen who teaches business used the Web log or blog, to condemn gays and call for gays and lesbians to be removed from jobs as teachers, elected officials and doctors.
In one posting Rasmusen stated: "A second reason not to hire homosexuals as teachers is that it puts the fox into the chicken coop. Male homosexuals, at least, like boys and are generally promiscuous. They should not be given the opportunity to satisfy their desires. Somewhat related is a reason not to hire a homosexual as a doctor even though you would hire him as a lawyer: you don't mind if your lawyer has a venereal disease such as HIV or hepatitis, but you do mind if your doctor is in a class of people among whom such diseases are common."
The postings caused an uproar among students and faculty.
Doug Bauder, coordinator of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender services, told the campus newspaper that a staff member called the GLBT office and brought the site to his attention.
"It's not an easy Web page to look at," Bauder said. "From what I read, it is very offensive. I'm glad people in the business school are responding to this."
Thursday, school administrators closed down the blog.
Joe Boes, an academic adviser in the business school where Rasmusen teaches, said he found the material offensive because of the threats it poses to the GLBT community.
Boes, who is gay, said: "When [students] are exposed to this type of opinion it pushes them further into the closet."
In an e-mail to the paper, Rasmusen said he was expressing opinions that are common elsewhere in the United States.
©365Gay.com® 2003
Professor Eric Rasmusen who teaches business used the Web log or blog, to condemn gays and call for gays and lesbians to be removed from jobs as teachers, elected officials and doctors.
In one posting Rasmusen stated: "A second reason not to hire homosexuals as teachers is that it puts the fox into the chicken coop. Male homosexuals, at least, like boys and are generally promiscuous. They should not be given the opportunity to satisfy their desires. Somewhat related is a reason not to hire a homosexual as a doctor even though you would hire him as a lawyer: you don't mind if your lawyer has a venereal disease such as HIV or hepatitis, but you do mind if your doctor is in a class of people among whom such diseases are common."
The postings caused an uproar among students and faculty.
Doug Bauder, coordinator of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender services, told the campus newspaper that a staff member called the GLBT office and brought the site to his attention.
"It's not an easy Web page to look at," Bauder said. "From what I read, it is very offensive. I'm glad people in the business school are responding to this."
Thursday, school administrators closed down the blog.
Joe Boes, an academic adviser in the business school where Rasmusen teaches, said he found the material offensive because of the threats it poses to the GLBT community.
Boes, who is gay, said: "When [students] are exposed to this type of opinion it pushes them further into the closet."
In an e-mail to the paper, Rasmusen said he was expressing opinions that are common elsewhere in the United States.
©365Gay.com® 2003
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.