Students at Dartmouth College are defending a series of explicit questions on gay sex posed to Texas Gov. Rick Perry during a Sunday night Q&A, saying they were trying to illustrate how childish Perry was being by denying gays their rights just because "he finds anal sex icky."
The New York Daily News reported the audience of mostly college Republicans booed, rather than laughed, at questions like, "Does your ideal anti-sodomy law prevent me from playing with my own poop shoot?" and "I know you have been very strong on all foreign policy issues, including Somali pirates, but what is your stance on butt pirates?"
"Nobody in the audience laughed. They booed," said Ben Packer, who wrote and distributed dozens of flyers to audience members before the event. He said that the goal of the questions was to "mock the individual and the event" through "trolling or subversion."
Organizers discovered the flyers before Perry arrived, and were upset that students took Perry to task for statements such as his comparing alcoholism to homosexuality this June.
College Democrats President Spencer Blair was also upset over the disruption, telling the Dartmouth newspaper that "it's really disappointing that anyone would undermine a serious political event with sexually explicit questions."
But Emily Sellers of the Dartmouth staff defended the action, writing that Packer "used childish language to highlight Perry's childish logic regarding (homo)sexuality -- he denies thousands of people human rights because he finds anal sex icky."
"Childish language strips the act of all stigma surrounding homophobia and forces him to confront the unfounded reasons he condemns anal sex," wrote Sellers. "Further, laws against sodomy are explicit -- they can limit legal sex to a penis going into a vagina and punish people who do anything else. Supporting a constitutional amendment that limits marriage to a man and a woman is sexually explicit and is a main tenet of conservative platforms."
"The reason this action was uncomfortable is also why it was necessary: it occurred outside the limits of what Perry and others who benefit from the dominant discourse deem appropriate," Sellers said.
In her asking Perry if he would have anal sex for $102 million -- the amount of campaign contributions he received during his multiple runs for governor - Sellers said she knew that while her questions were disrespectful, she was trying to show that it was not appropriate to respect a man who holds power, simply because he holds it.
"It should matter what he does with that power, and what he does is oppress people he finds icky," wrote Sellers.
Packer said that he was disappointed his desired effect wasn't achieved, but felt like event organizers controlled the lens through which the action was viewed, taking some of the power away from his intended result.
From our media partner EDGE
