On Sep. 11 around 7 p.m., it was reported the wording of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center was stripped from the Adams Residence Hall sign, according to the university police. Originally cited by police as an act of vandalism, an eyewitness says otherwise.
David Kelvey, an Adams Hall resident, said he is "pretty sure" he witnessed a university worker scraping the center's name off the sign on the morning of Sept. 11.
"Well, one morning I was coming out of my dorm ... and I just saw a car, well a van, with the university seal on it," Kelvey said. "I saw a man get out of it with a scraper in his hand and he scraped off the sign. It was early in the morning."
OUT Week, running from Oct. 7-14, is one of two weeks geared toward the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community, with PRIDE week in the spring, said Mickey Hart, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center at Ohio University.
This year’s theme is “Come OUT! Get OUT! Stay OUT!” The week is anchored around National Coming Out Day, which is October 11, Hart said.
Anti-gay threats written in chalk were discovered on the campus of Michigan Tech University in Houghton last Friday. They were written in the middle of the night the same week that a slate of gay pride activities was scheduled at the University.
The threats involved the killing, mutilation, and shooting of gay people. The activities on campus at MTU last week included the wearing of "
Gay, Fine By Me" T-shirts, meant to send a message of tolerance to students there. Obviously, some homophobe was threatened. If the message that anti-gay prejudice is real wasn't getting across
before, it surely has now.
Said Vice President of Student Affairs Les Cook: "This is probably the most pervasive incident we’ve had on campus since I’ve been here. We take these kinds of things serious and we are trying to provide our support. It’s an issue. It’s not healthy for our community and we’re hoping we can resolve things quickly."
Authorities are still trying to find out the identity of the vandals.
If you wish, you may contact me by voicemail at 909-7GayGay (909.742.9429).
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On Sep. 11 around 7 p.m., it was reported the wording of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center was stripped from the Adams Residence Hall sign, according to the university police. Originally cited by police as an act of vandalism, an eyewitness says otherwise.
