H.O.M.E. founder protests homosexual activity, students respond

Wayne Lela stood outside NEIU's Student Union, surrounded by a mob of students who argued against his beliefs on homosexual activity.

"We do not choose our sexual orientation, but we can choose our behavior-and homosexual activity is not moral behavior," said Lela, founder of Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (HOME). "Our genes can make us good or bad [people], but we can control how we act. Just because people have different genes that make them homosexual, it does not justify their homosexual behavior."

"What's immoral is you trying to change people's views!" said sophomore Mark Cimochowicz, a student, among many others who, debated Lela's points.

Lela handed out flyers with a fellow supporter, talking to anyone who would listen to his organization's opinions. The flyers attempted to discredit the validity of gay activism on one side, and stated the "uncensored truth about homosexuality" on the other. Lela's supporter also passed out pamphlets on the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which aims to give people who have "unwanted homosexual attraction effective psychological care."

Students crowded around Lela as he spoke, either yelling angrily at him or listening in disbelief.

"Laurie Fuller, the teacher of my Women's Values and Perspectives class, showed us the flyers he was passing out and then ended class early so we could come out here and listen to him," said Ruthy Venegas. "Other students besides my class were just bashing what he was saying."

Lela, who has been visiting NEIU for the past 15 years, believes HOME has a responsibility to the public.

"People need information about reality," he said. "We inform them about the dangers of homosexual behavior, knowledge leads to behavior."

According to Lela, these dangers include health issues, such as the alleged higher risk of breast cancer in lesbians. Upon hearing him say statistics like this, students were in an uproar.

"Suppressing your true feelings makes you feel [horrible]-what gives somebody the right to tell another person who they can and can't love?" asked freshman Michelle Lacatus. "If gay people could change the way they are, they would. Why would we want to be hated?"

Lela claimed that he was not religious, he simply upheld three principles.

"I believe in science, logic and natural law," he said. "I love talking to homosexuals and helping them cope with their orientation in a constructive way to suppress parts of nature that aren't moral."

The crowd around Lela continuously grew and shrunk for over an hour as he spoke on issues regarding same-sex marriage, unsafe sex and AIDS. Some students stood by for a few minutes and then walked away angrily, telling others to do the same if they disagreed with him.

Sergeant David DeClet also stood attentively, making sure no fights broke out.

"I don't deal with the message, I just deal with crowd control," said DeClet. "These guys come by every year but there are never any fights, just verbal disagreements."

Eventually, the hype around Lela died down as students either continued their daily schedules or made light of the situation.

"They came here to change students' minds [about homosexuality], but if people are arguing with him, they clearly aren't convinced," said sophomore Bobby Daniels. "If you're trying to stand up for what you believe in against people like him, just walk away."

"They want your ears, and eventually, they'll want your souls," said Avi Steinberg.