Notre Dame Magazine & Covering Complicated Subjects feat. Kerry Temple
When Kerry Temple came on board as the editor of Notre Dame Magazine in 1995, he was told that any topic was fair game for the Catholic university's quarterly. Except homosexuality.
For nearly 10 years, he and his team steered clear. But by 2004 Kerry says it was just time. Together with his magazine team and willing writers, Notre Dame Magazine tackled the taboo subject. And not just with an article, but with an entire issue dedicated to the complex conversations around religion, sexual orientation, vulnerability, and stigma. It was also the first time Notre Dame welcomed an openly gay individual to write for the magazine.
Kerry, whose work has been cited in Best American Essays more than a dozen times, talks to host Maureen Harmon about this particular issue of Notre Dame Magazine, the love that dare not speak its name, and why he considers it his finest work.
My Finest Work is a production of Dog Ear Creative and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
Notre Dame Magazine on covering complicated topics
10:50: At the time, we were going against the current, and it was something people didn't want to talk about. And it was something that I felt like we should. And I'm not a contentious person, I'm not a crusader, but there are times when you just have to step up into it. And I just felt like now's the time to do it.
19:27: Good writing comes from the feelings inside. It's not just the intellectual content.
17:27: When I'm working on something, I love that process—being in a zone and doing the writing.
On homophobia
07:41: Life's hard. It's hard, whatever you do. And then to add on to people, they've gotta come to terms with their sexuality in a culture that isn't welcoming and open to it. And then you lay on all this religious guilt and it just makes their lives that much harder. It just seems to me unchristian.
On the magazines impact
21:18: Somebody told me about a month after it came out that doing this issue probably had saved lives. And that was a really good thing to hear.
13:28 - Notre Dame, it's a very traditional place. And when I was there [as a student], for two years, it was all male. And so you can imagine the environment and the mindset and the thinking about manhood and masculinity. It just hung on there for a long, long time. I think the place is better now.
Show Links:
Guest Profile:
- Faculty Profile at University of Notre Dame
- Kerry Temple on LinkedIn
His Work:
- The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name; Summer 2004 issue of Notre Dame Magazine
- Stories in Notre Dame Magazine
- This Place Called Notre Dame
- Back to Earth: A Backpacker's Journey into Self and Soul
