Mount Pleasant resident Jim Moreno says the “How to be Gay” course isn’t as bad as Rep. Jack Hoogendyk Jr. has made it seem.

“I know that sometimes things can get distorted and aren’t what they appear
to be,” said Moreno, Mount Pleasant Area Diversity Group chairman. “This
class should not be canceled.”

David Halperin, creator and professor of the University of Michigan class,
was on campus Monday night to present “How to be Gay: Joan Crawford and Gay
Male Subjectivity.”

The presentation, which was attended by people of all ages, mirrored a day in the controversial class.

Sabrina Manera said she enjoyed hearing Halperin’s reasoning on why gay men identify with Joan Crawford and other film legends.

“If his class was just like that, I would be willing to take it,” said Manera, Dearborn Heights freshman.

The course is at the center of a bill Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, is putting
together on subjects that shouldn’t receive public funding.

Six CMU classes also were questioned by the lawmaker.

Halperin, who said Hoogendyk’s efforts don’t intimidate him, has taught other classes dealing with sexual identity.

“This is the one course in which there’s no sex; it’s all Joan Crawford and Broadway musicals,” he said.

Hoogendyk, who didn’t attend the event because of a time conflict, has
never attended one of Halperin’s lectures or presentations.

“We are questioning how public funds are used,” he said. “Some classes are not a proper use of taxpayer dollars.”

The experiences of gays and lesbians aren’t too different from heterosexuals, Moreno said.

“We all go through the same questions of identity, relationship problems and family issues,” he said.

Gary Glenn, American Family Association Michigan chapter president, commends Hoogendyk’s efforts to get the class canceled.

“It’s an outrageous waste of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “(Being gay is)
a behavior, which literally puts young men’s lives at risk.”

Commerce Township sophomore Jennifer Suidan said she appreciates the originality of Halperin’s class.

“It’s a part of a study that’s not necessarily looked at,” said Suidan,
Gay Straight Alliance public relations representative. “I think it’s interesting.”

Glenn, who didn’t attend the event, has read the course description of
the class and challenged Halperin to a debate focused on the academic merit
of the course.

The professor declined the offer, saying it wouldn’t change either of their views.

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