Many students attended Allegheny’s second annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Colloquium on March 30. But what some don’t know is that two days prior to the event, a family values group tried to stop it from taking place.

Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association (AFA) of Pennsylvania, faxed a statement to Allegheny College that called on President Richard Cook to “intervene and not promote the homosexual lifestyle through the upcoming colloquium.”

“I figured I would contact President Cook to go right to the top,” Gramley said. “I felt as president of a school associated with the Methodist Church, one of his jobs is to make clear what the school teaches — and that is that homosexual acts are a sin.”

Gramley said she was not aware of last year’s LGBT Colloquium.

“Personally, I don’t think they have any business saying that,” Kurt Jablonski, ’08, said in response to the statement issued by the AFA. “Just because we go here doesn’t mean we are affiliated with the Methodist religion.”

President Cook was out of town when Gramley’s fax arrived. Linda DeMeritt, dean of the college, released a response in his absence.

“It is our responsibility as an educational institution to provide a forum for informed discussion of a wide range of social, intellectual and political issues,” DeMeritt said in the statement. “We realize that these particular issues might be controversial to some, but the culture of an educational institution should encourage the respectful discussion and engagement of ideas.”

In a news release posted on the AFA Web site, Gramley claims that “institutions of higher education that claim to have Christian ties need to get back to what scripture says about homosexual acts.” Colleges with Christian ties, she asserts, receive funding from churches.

In 1833, after closing due to financial difficulties, Allegheny reopened with the financial backing of the United Methodist Church. The church insisted that Allegheny be nonsectarian in its curriculum but committed to building character according to sound values and ideals.

“As far as I know, we currently have no direct financial support,” said Rev. Jane Ellen Nickell, college chaplain.

Nickell said she believes that Gramley and other AFA members have the freedom to express their Christian beliefs.

“They have a right to express their opinion and a right to express what they see as truth,” Nickell said.

Jablonski agrees. “I understand what [Gramley] says about religion and the belief that union should be between a man and a woman according to the Bible, and I respect that,” he said. “But I personally believe that if two people are in love, they should be able to be together and not be persecuted for it.”

Nickell explained that Methodism is one of the few religions that works as a democracy. There are religious principles some Methodists adhere to, but not all persons associated with Methodism follow them.

“There is a lot of disagreement [on homosexuality] within the church,” Nickell said. “When you say the Methodist position is your official state, it could mean a lot of things.”

Gramley’s news release on the AFA Web site also mentions health risks. “In addition to allowing on campus a series of meetings that ignore Christian teachings about sin, the school is promoting a very dangerous lifestyle,” she said, “one that shortens the lives of the male participants by up to 20 years and one in which the female participants are more prone to breast, uterine and ovarian cancers.”

Gramley said she acquired these statistics from the Oxford International Journal of Epidemiology and the Center for Disease Control.

Allegheny students, gay and straight, say they’re disturbed by Gramley’s statement.

“Any sexual activity can shorten lives, and I would really like to see those studies,” said JC Bangoy, ’08. “I can’t deny that I’m gay, but I’m safe. Sex itself can be a dangerous lifestyle. STDs and AIDS are not just a gay problem.”

Bangoy is a member of Allegheny Gay Pride (AGP), one of the organizations that sponsored the LGBT Colloquium.

Bangoy said he’s looking forward to AGP’s upcoming drag show, which Gramley also opposes.

“It’s not unusual for gay pride organizations on college campuses to have drag shows,” she said. “But again, what the church teaches is that sex acts are a sin and are incompatible with Christian teachings.”

“We have religious life students on both sides,” Nickell said. “If we do an event, both sides are represented. As a campus, we don’t impose religious values. And it seems like we’re not consistent with our religious values only when something like this comes up.”