Sexuality, obscenity
linked, lawyer says
By Matthew Trwdell
Staff Reporter
Promiscuity is the factor that
makes homosexuality and obscen
uy a continu
ing societal
problem, a
Miami law
yer said
Wednesday
night.
Jack Th
o m p s o n
spoke to
about 30
people about
Thompson gay rights
and obscenity
during a lecture in the Nebraska
Union.
Thompson was a key figure in
arguing that rap group 2 Live
Crew’s “As Nasty As They Wanna
Be” should be ruled obscene. The
Florida Supreme Court in 1990
ruled the album was obscene in the
first such ruling in! the United
States.
Thompson also was the Repub
lican candidate for Dade County
prosecutor in 1988. His opponent,
who defeated him, was Janet Reno,
the current U.S. Attorney General.
Obscenity in any form contrib
utes to social problems, Thompson
said. He said he was opposed to the
music of 2 Live Crew because it
contained violent, gratuitous
sexual references.
Thompson said he had worked
with rape victims where pornog
raphy was a factor and was able to
see the severe damage that such
obscene material caused.
The same forces that claim to
champion freedom of speech, Th
ompson said, have attempted to si
lence him. 2 Live Crew lead singer
Luther Campbell sued Thompson
in an attempt to keep him from
speaking about the Florida obscen
ity case.
The gay rights movement in the
United States also is tied to obscen
ity, Thompson said. Both obscen
ity and homosexuality celebrate
promiscuity, he said, which is the
cause of many social problems.
Thompson’s speech, sponsored
by the University Program Coun
cil, presented only one side of the
debate on obscenity and homo
sexuality. Torie Osborn, a national
gay rights activist, will present
opposing viewpoints Oct. 11 in a
speech at the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln.
Thompson said his feelings
about homosexuality were based on
Christian beliefs and acceptance of
the bible.
An audience member at the lec
ture asked Thompson whether he
thought AIDS was a curse from
God on homosexuals. Thompson
said he believed God created the
world in such a way that there were
consequences for all sins, but that
AIDS was not actually created by
God specifically to punish homo
sexuals.
Thompson said an organized
movement existed in the United
States pushing for acceptance of
homosexuality.
Although he feels homosexual
behavior is wrong, Thompson said
he does not hate homosexuals. Th
ompson said homosexuality was a
chosen, learned behavior that
stemmed from good intentions.
Encouraging homosexuality
also is wrong because it is self-de
structive, Thompson said. In ad
dition to sexually transmitted dis
eases, Thompson said, homosexu
als are more likely to commit sui
cide.
Civil rights activist speaks
By Cathrlne Blalock
Staff Reporter
Civil rights activist Lela Shanks
said on Wednesday that her experi
ences and efforts against discrimina
tion would help young minorities in
the future.
“The civil rights movements
paved the way for your generation,”
she said.
About 60 students and faculty
members gathered in the Wick
Alumni Center on Wednesday to hear
Shanks give a lecture titled “Black
History and the Civil Rights Move
ment: An Activist’s Perspective.”
Shanks has been involved with
civil rights movements for more than
50 years and in organizations such
as the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
chapter in Lincoln.
In 1993, Shanks received the Alice
Paul Award from the Lincoln/
Lancaster Commission on the Status
of Women for her lifelong achieve
ments on behalf of women and mi
norities.
In the past, she said, the achieve
ments of African Americans have
been ignored.
During the lecture, Shanks dis
played two paintings by 19th-century
African Americans, posters of an
African map and newspaper clip
pings of her involvement in protests.
Shanks also talked about African
American inventors and scientists.
She said information like that had
been kept from history books.
“We really need to know these
things,” she said.
There is much more African
American history that the rest of the
country doesn’t know, Shanks said.
Shanks said the first Africans who
came to North America were explor
ers, not slaves. And between 1865
and 1900, 22 African Americans
were elected to Congress, she said.
Others’ ignorance about history is
what Shanks said she had to get past
to achieve greater equality.
Michelle Paulman/DN
Ula Shanks spanks about African American history to stu
dents and faculty at the Wick Alumni Center Wednesday.
She said she first became aware of the discrimination that
African Americans faced when she was about 9 years old,
and her mother told her not to forget to sit In the beck of
the streetcar.
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