Everstraights Criticized by Gays

Harvard Gays Jarred by Jada

By Brian Ballou, Boston Herald
Thursday, March 3, 2005

Hollywood actress Jada Pinkett Smith may have been honored as Artist of the Year Saturday at Harvard University, but her speech ruffled some feathers among the Ivy League school's gay community.

The Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance is reportedly taking issue with Smith's remarks as being too specific to heterosexual relationships, according to The Harvard Crimson.

``Some of the content was extremely heteronormative, and made BGLTSA members feel uncomfortable,'' BGLTSA co-chairman Jordan Woods told the Crimson.

The fallout comes as Harvard President Lawrence Summers continues to come under fire for comments made about women and science during a speech last month.

The BGLTSA has called for an apology from the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, which brought Pinkett Smith to campus.

Both groups are working together to ``increase sensitivity towards issues of sexuality at Harvard,'' according to the Crimson.

Yannis Paulus of the foundation's student advisory committee said the actress was talking about her own life. ``She wasn't trying to be offensive,'' Paulus told the Crimson.

While neither group specified what Pinkett Smith said that was so offensive, a previous edition of the Crimson included a quote from the actress from the event at Sanders Theater.

``Women, you can have it all - a loving man, devoted husband, loving children, a fabulous career,'' she said. ``They say you gotta choose. Nah, nah, nah. We are a new generation of women. We got to set a new standard of rules around here. You can do whatever it is you want. All you have to do is want it.''

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