I am writing to address my dissatisfaction with how my words were used in an article featured in the March 10 edition of The Lafayette. Upon speaking to my peers and housemates that were also featured in the article, I found that I was not the only person who felt that the article was not a faithful representation of life in Lavender Lane and that the answers we gave in our interviews were taken out of context instead of in their entirety that would have painted a more complete picture of life in Lavender Lane.

While I’ve personally never once felt uncomfortable in Lavender Lane as a person of color (POC), I do feel uncomfortable due to the article and the process of writing a letter to the editor, in which I have been asked to revise and exclude some of my opinions. A meeting has since been held in Lavender Lane to address outstanding issues in the house and discuss how the publishing of the March 10 article affected the emotional standing of residents. Within this meeting, it became clear that while there are undoubtedly issues as there are in all living situations, the resounding opinion of queer POC residents is that the house is a positive community and safe space on the campus, to which I wholeheartedly agree.

Through speaking with my housemates it has come to my attention that I was asked different questions than the other POC interviewees and was not credited as a POC myself in the article. Personally, I feel that my status as a queer person of color was overlooked in this article, which was especially disheartening as I had spoken at length during my interview about how I had been experiencing feelings of inadequacy and guilt that I may not be “POC enough” or that I had been letting my culture down by not being “Asian enough.” I am a proud Shanghainese American and I am a proud lesbian woman. I should never have been placed in a position of turmoil surrounding my identity, but unfortunately due to the handling of this article I was and I felt the need to speak out on the issue.

Best,
Cate Cheng