PHOTO: just a few years ago, some Oregon State University students were openly condemning gay marriage in an independent student newspaper, but as a positive sign of the times the OSU student newspaper ran the above opinion piece by Irene Drage, "Marriage equality not the final blow to homophobia," Barometer, posted Jan. 29, 2013, p. 3. Unfortunately, at the same time, it ran next to the cautionary editorial "Remain vigilant against Corvallis creeper," Barometer, posted Jan. 28, 2013 commenting on the big story on campus terrifying many students: Staff, "Assault near campus, suspect on the loose," Barometer, posted Jan.27, 2013, p. 3 and , "Second woman attacked near OSU campus," Gazette-Times posted Jan. 27, 2013. (Also see Staff, "Police sift through tips in campus attacks," Gazette-Times posted Jan. 29, 2013)
I must compliment the student headline writer who came up with the "Corvallis Creeper." I am surprised this hasn't caught on with the mainstream media. Whoever it is appears to be lying low, or they went 40 miles south and committed a similar crime in Eugene that was recently reported. In any case, I am sure the culprit is committing this crime as a sexual thrill. This case is a good example of the difference between sexual thrills that harm another person versus a sexual thrill obtained with another consenting adult person. Early gay rights advocates had to repeatedly make this point -- sexual perverts, such as rapists, should be punished by the law, but the law should not be punishing the sex acts of two consenting adult gay men who do it in private and harm no one else. This ethic, which seems obvious today, was controversial when it was first raised in the middle 20the Century.
