By Becca Morrison

Staff Writer

``I promise to love and respect my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and to pray for their protection'' is the phrase that appeared on the pages handed out in Tuesday's chapel. Why? This week, April 8-12, marks Calvin's annual Ribbon Week.

Calvin held a number of events in honor of the week. Many students around campus have worn purple ribbons on their clothes to show their love and respect. Chaplain Cooper spoke in Tuesday's chapel on the ideas and potentials of Ribbon Week. Moment of silence ensued on the Commons lawn . Four Calvin people told their unique stories during a panel discussion on Tuesday night in the LabTheatre. A film entitled ``The Eyes of Tammy Faye'' was shown in the Commons Lecture Hall on Wednesday night.

In Cooper's chapel talk, he laid out some goals of the week. He stressed the importance of promoting awareness of those questioning their sexuality, and to educate people about the issues concerning homosexuality. Cooper also spoke of the need for repentance of those who are prejudice against homosexuals.

``We have differences, it's how we handle the differences that either brings God honor or not. It's my deepest longing that we would bring Jesus Christ pleasure this week,'' Cooper said. In closing, he said, ``We can be angels of help for others,'' he said, ``We are called upon to understand, accept and love other people.''

Cooper then led students out to Commons lawn where over fifty people gathered in a circle and stood silent, in honor and respect to those questioning individuals who are forced to be silent every day.

On Tuesday night, students gathered together in the Lab Theatre to listen to a panel of four Calvin students--both present and past--three of whom are homosexual and one whose father is homosexual. Philosophy professor David Hoekema introduced the forum and expressly said that the night's forum was not an occasion to debate the behavior of homosexuals. ``We're here tonight to listen to four panelists and their experiences, and for some, their reception at Calvin,'' he said. ``What kind of community do we hope to build here at Calvin?''

The first panelist was a forty-seven-year-old woman who attended Calvin in the seventies. She spoke of her tight Christian family and of education in Christian schools. Growing up, she said she did not know she was gay. ``I still needed to accept my sexuality,'' she said to students, ``I used to think I knew the blacks and whites of life, but now I realize there's more gray areas.''

She openly spoke of her life with her partner and of her involvement in her church. She split from the CRC church when she could not find acceptance and currently attends a Presbyterian church.

The second panelist was a current Calvin senior who said he didn't know he was gay until recently. He spoke of his freshmen year at Calvin and of his own prejudice remarks he made towards gays without even thinking about it. ``Oh, that's so gay', or `oh dude, that outfit is gay' were the things I used to say. It wasn't a big deal to me. I didn't realize that it was a big deal to others,'' he said. His junior year at Calvin, he started to suspect that he was gay. ``I remember not knowing who I was. I remember choking back tears,'' he said. He has since then become firm in his sexuality.

The third panelist was a Calvin sophomore and, though not homosexual herself, has grown up with a homosexual father. When she was ten, her parents got a divorce. Later on, he gave both her and her eight-year-old brother books on homosexuality and asked them if they knew what gay was. She said ``happy?'' he said, ``Yes, and I'm very happy.'' She thought, ``Well, great Dad. I'm glad,'' but said she didn't really understand until later.

It wasn't until she had a two-month breakdown late in high school that things really started to make sense. ``After that, he became my dad, not my gay dad,'' she said. She expressed sorrow over the fact that he has broken away from the church completely, but at the same time, she expressed frustration over the amount of judgment he has received from the church. ``I know that I can't change my dad. That's not my job. My job is to love him,'' she ended by saying.

The final panelist was a student who attended Calvin for one month in the fall of 2001. During orientation, the orientation leaders informed the incoming freshmen of all the activities and clubs Calvin has to offer. He raised his hand and asked if there were any gay/lesbian clubs and she cut him off by saying ``Calvin offers many programs,'' and turning quickly to another subject. He related other stories of students at Calvin writhing in their chairs at the very mention of a homosexual person. After a month, he decided that although he did want to attend a Christian school, Calvin was not the place for him, and he left.

Many students' hands went up and they expressed their high admiration for the panelists' courage in speaking so openly. Those students in attendence seemed to be highly supportive of the people up front.