It would seem to me that in these very troubled times, Gomes is exactly the sort of person who should be leading religious community. A person of courage, of integrity, and more importantly, of honesty. These would seem to me to be far more important spiritual values than the narrow religious fundamentalism espoused by those opposed to Gomes' presence.

The people who disagree with Gomes' sexual preference have every right to their beliefs. But they have no right to tell me what mine or Gomes' should be. Or to judge. I seem to remember the Bible saying something about taking the log out of your own eye before trying to remove the mote in somebody else's.

A side note but not an important one. In this age of "political correctness," when a certain kind of conservatism has claimed the high ground of free speech, nothing better illustrates the "truth" behind this facade than the controversy surrounding Gomes.

This group claims that it is defending the right of people to speak their minds against the close-minded and hard-handed censorship of the politically correct left.

Yet, as we can see in this case, the real issue certainly is censorship--a censorship imposed by those who would tell us how to live our lives, what positions we can and cannot hold in society, and just exactly how we should toe the "real" politically correct line.

Which brings me to my last point--silence. Now is not the time for silence. This is a crucial issue not only for Gomes, but for the entire Harvard community. Those of us who support Gomes and his right to be who he truly is, cannot be silent.

We must speak out, regardless of the consequences. because when we speak out for Comes, we are also speaking out for ourselves and for our right to be who and what we are.

I would hate to think that when Gomes tells some loved one about what happened to him in the late winter of 1992 at Harvard, he will have to tell that story with the sound of our silence ringing in his ears. Tom Regan   Nieman Fellow '91-'92