When exgay activist Tim Wilkins spoke to a forum at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Oct. 4, two campus newspapers offered two differing accounts of what transpired.

Joe Riddle has already reviewed Bradley Wooten’s article in the UWM Post.

By comparison, the UWM Leader offered an unanalytical and one-sided soapbox for Wilkins on Oct. 12. The latter article left numerous obvious questions unanswered.

The Leader spotlights a fight that broke out among three students during exgay activist Tim Wilkins’ two-hour speech Oct. 4. But while the newspaper identifies two of the three students, it does not investigate the basis of the fight. Wilkins endured that and other disruptions during a speech in which he claimed not to be intolerant — but then smeared “liberal theology”:

“I’m not advocating the church reach out to the homosexual and just leave them-that’s what liberal theology teaches,” Wilkins said. “That’s like telling the sinner that pornography, lying, cheating, and murder are okay.”

According to the Leader, Wilkins said he engaged in homosexual behavior for 10 years, until age 22, and then waited another 11 years for his first attraction to the opposite sex. According to the newspaper, Wilkins repeatedly referred to homosexuality as a singular lifestyle.

The newspaper does not indicate whether Wilkins expressed any opposition to antigay discrimination and bullying. However, of diversity, Wilkins said: “Diversity is the freedom not to be a homosexual.”

If Wilkins ever provided any specific examples of his tolerance or acceptance for homosexuals, the newspaper does not report them.

Read the article — and then comment to the newspaper on its unanswered questions.

For more information:
In comments appended to the newspaper article, Stephen Bennett ridicules those who “demand ‘tolerance, acceptance, love and diversity’ — that is, until you bring the perspective you are bringing.”

An antigay writer for the American Family Association profiled Wilkins in 2001.

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