Is anyone else out there troubled by this story?
Let's face it-video taping your roommate doing the deed with a man or a woman is nasty stuff. It's pretty douchey. But I'm really wondering about the charges here.
The roommate was charged with bias intimidation and invasion of privacy.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Bias intimidation? That sounds like something that would come out of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, rather than the American justice system.
Are peeping Tom heterosexuals ever charged with this in America?
I also think it is reasonable to ask what information college students have about their roommates-and if they are given the opportunity to indicate any kind of preference about them? Is it just a raffle? Random?
Most colleges are basically petri dishes for sexually transmitted diseases and promiscuity.
Are you allowed to ask if you are being placed with a smoker or non-smoker?
Vegan versus carnivore?
Someone who is a morning person versus a night owl? A quiet person versus a party animal?
These are more innocuous than issues of sexuality, but even these could create a lot of friction between people living in the same, small space.
Colleges are now asking about sexual orientation. But it's to create "safe" space and support services.
I suspect that most (if not all) college students have no choices in this matter, and that students are not able to discuss any kind of discomfort about anything to do with their roommates because they could get harassed, or even prosecuted under anti-hate proceedings.
Is it reasonable to allow students who do have a level of discomfort with different sexual orientations a discreet way of expressing that before rooming assignments are done?
Like I said-filming someone in an intimate situation is reprehensible (and really stupid even if it's consensual).
But killing yourself over it is a permanent "fix" for a short-term problem.
This is a much bigger issue than this particular story.
