Shame on you, Oregon State.
There's no way to quell students' efforts to celebrate and learn about diverse sexuality than to un-invite a world renowned author and speaker, Tristan Taormino last minute.
Please read Taormino's press release and my response letter to University officials is below.
A veiled conservative, last minute decision from Oregon State University officials suddenly revoked previously-promised funding. One of my least favorite, increasingly frequent pet peeves is when a conversation about positive sexuality must turn to censorship. Yet again, in efforts to celebrate healthy sexuality, a group is censored around what kind of sexuality they can talk about.
Even in a supposedly progressive place like Oregon; in a University environment where self exploration, critical thinking and new ideas should be supported, students are forced to un-invite their keynote speaker on sexual empowerment.
A press release yesterday states:
Award-winning author, columnist, sex educator, and filmmaker Tristan Taormino was set to be the keynote speaker at Oregon State University’s Modern Sex conference, scheduled for February 15-16, 2011. Yesterday, she was uninvited by a university representative, who cited her resume and website as the reason.
On October 28, 2010, organizers of the OSU Modern Sex conference booked Taormino to give the keynote talk. After standard conversations and negotiation over a contract, in late December, OSU again confirmed Tristan’s appearance and conference organizers told her manager to purchase airline tickets, for which OSU would be reimburse her.
On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, Steven Leider, Director of the Office of LGBT Outreach and Services contacted Colten Tognazzini, Tristan Taormino’s manager, to say that the conference had come up short on funding. Tognazzini told him that since the travel was booked and the time reserved, they could work with whatever budget they did have. Leider said that would not be possible: “We have to cancel Ms. Taormino’s appearance due to a lack of funding. It has been decided that OSU cannot pay Ms. Taormino with general fee dollars, because of the content of her resume and website.” At OSU, ‘general fee dollars’ include taxpayer dollars given to the University by the Oregon State Legislature to defray various costs. They differ from ‘student activity dollars,’ which are part of every student’s tuition and help fund student groups and activities.
Taormino’s resume includes her seven books on sex and relationships, the 18 anthologies she has edited, numerous television appearances from CNN to The Discovery Channel, and her award-winning adult films. She was a columnist for The Village Voice for nearly ten years and has given more than 75 lectures at top colleges and universities including Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Brown, NYU and Columbia. Her website, puckerup.com , includes sex education information, advice, and information about the films she directs for Vivid Entertainment, one of the largest adult companies in the country.
Tognazzini spoke to a source at OSU who speculated that the University feared that when it went before the legislature in regards to future funding, legislators would use OSU’s funding of a “pornographer” on campus as ammunition to further cut budgets. This source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Tognazzini, “I think they’re uninviting Tristan because they don’t want to have to defend her appearance to conservative legislators.”
“I’m extremely disappointed that OSU has decided to cancel my appearance. I’ve been protested before, but never uninvited. I have never misrepresented who I am or what I do. I am proud of all the work I do, including the sex education films and feminist pornography I make,” says Taormino. “The talk I planned to give at this conference, titled “Claiming Your Sexual Power” has nothing to do with porn, but the porn is such an easy target for anti-sex conservatives and censors. I find it ironic that one of the missions of the conference is to understand diverse perspectives of sexuality. Apparently, my perspective—one of educating and empowering people around their sexuality—isn’t welcome at OSU.”
Note from Tristan:
Don't Let the Anti-Sex Conservatives Win!If you support free speech and my mission of sexual empowerment, please voice your opinion about OSU’s decision to cancel my appearance at the last minute (and not reimburse me for travel expenses) to the following people. I would really appreciate your support —Tristan
Larry Roper
Vice Provost for Student Affairs
632 Kerr Administration Building
Corvallis, OR 97331-2154
541-737-3626 (phone)
541-737-3033 (fax)
email: larry.roper@oregonstate.edu
Dr. Mamta Motwani Accapadi
Dean of Student Life
A200 Kerr Administration Building
Corvallis, OR 97331-2133
541-737-8748 (phone)
541-737-9160 (fax)
email: deanofstudents@oregonstate.edu
twitter: @deanmamta
Dr. Edward J. Ray
President
600 Kerr Administration Building
Corvallis, OR 97331-2128
541-737-4133 (phone)
541-737-3033 (fax)
email: pres.office@oregonstate.edu
My letter to University officials:
To President Ray, Dean Motwani Accapadi, and Vice President Roper
Shame on you.
There's no way to quell students' efforts to celebrate and learn about diverse sexuality than to un-invite a world renowned author and speaker, Tristan Taormino last minute.
A veiled conservative, last minute decision from your University suddenly revoked previously-promised funding for a great thinker in modern sexuality.
Even in a supposedly progressive place like Oregon; in a University environment where self exploration, critical thinking and new ideas should be supported, students are forced to un-invite their keynote speaker on sexual empowerment.
One of my least favorite, increasingly frequent pet peeves is when a conversation about positive sexuality must turn to censorship. Yet again, in efforts to celebrate healthy sexuality, a group is censored around what kind of sexuality they can or can't talk about.
I agree with Tristan Taormino, it's "ironic that one of the missions of the conference is to understand diverse perspectives of sexuality. Apparently, [her] perspective—one of educating and empowering people around their sexuality—isn’t welcome at OSU.”
I wish the leaders at Oregon State could see this situation 10 or 20 years from now. With the opportunity to offer students a new, positive, healthy and empowered approach to sexuality, you chose to support censorship and fear.
As a sexuality educator myself, I know the challenges that exist around teaching sex positive empowerment and sharing sex resources. There are numerous opponents to sharing comprehensive sex information with youth or in religious environments, of course. But I am greatly saddened when even students at an institution of higher education are prevented from seeking the sexuality knowledge they seek out.
I hope you reconsider this cancellation of Tristan Taormino's keynote address, and extend a hand to sexuality educators of all experiences in the future.
Sincerely,
Molly Adler
Sexuality Educator, and co-owner, Self Serve Sexuality Resource Center
3904b Central Ave SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
505-265-5815
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