This letter is in response to Dan Erusha’s Nov. 20 letter, “Complaining not the answer to hate.”

Complaining, Mr. Erusha? Shut up! To say “don’t complain” when a hate crime occurs is to pretend that this discrimination does not exist and continues the societal message that it is still okay to discriminate against certain groups of people.

If Mr. Erusha had taken the time to actually read the article in the Daily on Tuesday and had taken the time to read the letter by Mr. Sorensen, he would have seen that Mr. Sorensen does educate as Erusha suggests. Mr. Sorensen wrote that this hate crime serves as a reminder to continue efforts to educate and enlighten people in the Ames/ISU community.

Few members of the LGBT community waste their time complaining. Many either put up with heterosexism and discrimination, or find ways to educate their friends, family, coworkers, and others. It is rare that more than a day goes by that I do not answer people’s questions and in turn educate them on LGBT issues.

LGBT Student Services provides speakers to instructors and student and community groups. Through LGBTSS I have spoken in front of over 1500 students in two semesters on a variety of LGBT issues.

There have been only 2 complaints in response to the vandalism: A complaint filed with DPS — known as reporting a bias incident and hate crime — and Mr. Erusha’s letter to the Daily.

Joel Taylor

Sophomore

Political Science