Several hundred people gathered at UVA’s amphitheater last night for the Stand Against Hatred. The vigil and public forum was in response to the April 4 attack on a UVA student that was apparently motivated by anti-gay bias.
Addressing the crowd, Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Allen Groves said he’d received e-mails asking why an attack motivated by perceived sexual orientation should be considered differently than other assaults. “Any assault on a UVA student is one too many,” he began. Crimes of hate, however, “strike at the most cherished values of society. If I am assaulted solely because of who I am, then I come to fear I will never be safe, for how can I change who I am?”
Groves also read a letter of support written by the Seven Society, a secretive and influential philanthropic organization on Grounds, and drew cheers by condemning the “not gay” chant at UVA football games, which has been an unofficial and controversial tradition for years. Finally, he told of confronting his own parents’ racism as he exhorted the audience to “talk to people who don’t see things the same way. It’s a very small step between a derogatory slur and a brutal assault in the middle of the night.”
More after the picture.
Everyone has a place in UVA’s rainbow. That was the message of yesterday’s Stand Against Hatred rally in response to an apparent anti-gay assault two weeks ago.
Other speakers reiterated this message. Seth Kaye, president of Queer and Allied Activism, helped organize the event: “We hope that you call out hatred wherever you see it in your life. It’s not just enough to attend vigils like this.”
UVA has experienced intermittent racist and homophobic attacks and vandalism in recent years. Many student organizations and other support structures have arisen in response. One event, Proud to Be Out Week, strives to increase awareness and understanding around issues of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community at UVA, and it happened to coincide with the Stand Against Hatred. Edward Warwick, Coordinator of the LGBT Resource Center at UVA, noted after the vigil that “the attack on April 4th unfortunately provided a very real-life example of the unacceptable behavior Proud to Be Out Week tries to address. While faculty and staff members are still highly concerned about including gender and sexuality in our non-discrimination policy and securing domestic partner benefits, and students work diligently toward the establishment of a Queer Studies minor and greater awareness, horrific events like these shift immediate concerns to very basic human needs like health and safety for all members of the LGBTQ community.”
UVA police continue to investigate the attack, in which five men assaulted a UVA student and shouted anti-gay slurs at him. They ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers
