Student athletes tackle homophobia with ‘You Don’t Say’ campaign
Student athletes at Duke University are taking part in a powerful campaign to challenge homophobia, transphobia, and other prejudice.
The Facebook and Twitter campaign, titled ‘You Don’t Say’, sees a number of students at the university explaining why they are uncomfortable with the use of certain words.
In addition to sexuality and gender, the campaign – which is a collaboration between student groups Think Before You Talk and Blue Devils United – also touches on race, disability and sexism.
Daniel Kort of the Blue Devils United told the Duke Chronicle: “Sports are really integral to our campus culture, and with that comes a pretty big microphone around our athletic culture.
“It’s easier to dismiss a message if it’s coming from a social justice-oriented group on campus.
“By getting people who aren’t traditionally seen as the social justice kids on campus to stand up for this message, it carries a lot more weight. It’s also that these student-athletes care a lot about the issues.”
Think Before You Tak president Jay Sullivan added: “Often people look at this and say, ‘Oh, they’re trying to censor speech’.
“What really this is is student-athletes that are taking a stand on a social issue they care about.
“The word represents something more than that. That’s why it was important to get people who were very passionate about it.”
