On Sept. 3, 1991, Steven O'Banion left a Cincinnati bar with a friend beside him. They were stopped by two police officers who referred to them as "faggots," to which O'Banion responded "cowabunga dude." He was then thrown to the ground, fracturing his cheekbone. His friend pleaded with the officers to take O'Banion to the hospital because he had full-blown AIDS. Instead, the officers left him handcuffed, lying face down in the back of their vehicle. He was then taken to the county justice center and charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and assaulting an officer. Led down a hall while officers shouted out "fucking AIDS faggot," O'Banion was placed in an isolated cell where he remained handcuffed. When a nurse came to his cell, she denied that he needed an X-ray, dismissing him as "a girlie." After another officer decided to hold him down with a choking restraint, O'Banion, stricken with meningitis, began to gasp and spit up mucus. In response, they began beating him, blood running from his nose, mouth and eye. An hour later, Steven O'Banion was taken to the hospital, examined, and taken back to jail for two days without medication. He was then placed under house arrest. On Oct. 10, 1991, Steven O'Banion was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of attempted murder and felonious assault for spitting blood and mucus. During the preliminary hearing, the nurse testified that "the mucus felt like acid burning my face." The officers testified that O'Banion received his multiple bruises by hitting his head on a bench.

After reading this, it is possible that some of you believe that this is an example of our justice system at its best, that all AIDS patients deserve whatever they get. Maybe some of you are uncomfortable by the idea of someone gay, much less someone with AIDS. Maybe some of you are horrified by this account, thankful that Happy Valley isn't like that. Probably all of you are thinking that you don't have anything to do with what happened to O'Banion. You are wrong.

Yes, while it's unlikely that anyone reading this paper was in the Cincinnati jail the night of Sept. 3 what made it happen? What inspired those police officers to brutally beat O'Banion? Why did a grand jury believe that all of his bruises were self inflicted? And beyond O'Banion, why is it that violence against lesbian, gay and bisexual people is on the rise? Why is it that we are never taught about the multitudes of gay, lesbian or bisexual figures throughout history? Why does the United Stated Defense Department refuse to acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals who are presently in their military and ROTC programs? Why is it that gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers have a suicide rate that is three times the average?

The answers to those questions do not lie with the police officers who beat up O'Banion. They lie with society; a society comprised of you, me and those around us. In this case, unless you are part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Every time you allow a homophobic comment, every time you dismiss someone's feelings because they are gay, lesbian or bisexual, every time you delete the fact that you are gay, lesbian or bisexual, you contribute to the problem.

Pride Week is a time for lesbian, gay and bisexual students to celebrate their very existence. To celebrate the fact that they have survived the insults, and the attacks and lived to tell about it. It is a time to tell Happy Valley that we no longer contribute to the problem. We are proud and have reason to be. Every time we speak, we wake up, we breathe, we have sex, we come out to someone new, we write in to the Collegian, we demand equal rights, we are born, it is a revolutionary act. If for today, for this week, for the rest of your life, make an effort. Don't be a part of the problem. Be proud with us.