By Megan Reback
I was, and still am mystified by the enormous turnout at the vigil this past Monday night. The solidarity and likemindedness of the group was felt by all.
Most importantly, I was struck by the discrimination and abuse our own students have suffered because they identify as LGBTQ. My own peers – the people I sit next to in class, pass by in Harris, my friends – have been victims of hate crimes. Further, these incredible, brave, strong people have endured bullying, physical abuse and alienation. I commend them for their resilience. I admire their bravery to share their stories with us.
Although I have spent uncountable hours questioning the agendas of hate groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church, I still cannot understand how hate is still so prominent in the 21st century. WBC is known for picketing at funerals as well as productions of the Laramie Project. They also protest Communism, Judaism and other sects of Christianity. One such display of their despicable agenda is the press release WBC issued two days after the deadly 2008 Sichuan earthquake, stating that they thanked God for the heavy loss of life in China and prayed “for many more earthquakes to kill many more thousands of impudent and ungrateful Chinese Communists.”
But WBC never showed up. I’m thankful. And although the prospect of their arrival encouraged attendance at the vigil, that attendance encouraged conversation. One idea that stays with me is “I should not be discriminated against for who I love.” Love. In a climate of high divorce rates, domestic abuse and greed, why would anyone inhibit or condemn love? We need more love. We need the passion, the compassion. Warfare, greed, crime, hate crimes, all those things come from hate.
I thank Spectrum and all who attended Matthew Shepard’s vigil for their open-mindedness, confidence and positivity. Jessica Bombasaro-Brady encouraged us to all keep fighting this fight for love, despite what we have gone through as LGBTQ students and allies. And if Westboro Baptist Church tries to show up again, I expect even more students, more administrators and more faculty to arrive and peacefully protest a heinous agenda that propagates hatred.
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By Corey Ogilby
Many thoughts rushed through my mind as I walked into “The Laramie Project, Ten Years Later – An Epilogue”; I knew it would not be a pleasant experience. With the threat of the Baptist protesters looming, the feeling I could not shake was shame. Ashamed of our country that there have to be presentations such as this, retelling appalling stories such as Matthew Shepard’s, and that there are people with so much hate in them that they feel it appropriate to protest a boy’s memory, all because of his sexual orientation. Shame.
The narratives in the production were often encouraging, with members of the Laramie community moving forward and seeing the inhumanity in such homophobia, but I could not help myself from thinking of my own little town in Maine. In my high school I witnessed forms of homophobia almost every day, and heard stories of it all over the state.
Members of the Laramie community stated that this kind of occurrence could have happened in any American town; without a doubt it could. This could have happened in Wyoming, or Maine or Connecticut because all over the country people are unable to move past their ignorance of the LGBTQ community.
I believe that one of the reasons why the production is so moving is that it is not produced by professional actors, but people who are familiar. This reminds us that this event is not exclusive to one part of the country, or one group of people. There is still is so much work to be done when it comes to the rights of the LGBTQ community.
What saddened me most is that it took Matthew’s murder to open the eyes of many in the country to the fact that sexual orientation should never be cause for such an atrocious event.
But what about those who were not changed, those who believed that Matthew got what he deserved? What will it take to make these people see the injustice and blind hatred in homophobia? Will there have to be events similar to Matthew’s to make people finally understand?
“The Laramie Project” is an important step forward, by telling Matthew’s story hopefully it will prevent it from ever happening again, and hopefully it will change the minds of those who still need changing. Someday, by telling Matthew’s story the shame can be replaced by hope.
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By Andrew Soule
Although he was murdered eleven years ago, Shepard’s memory still has the power to inspire people to change the world. With the prospect of protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church carrying hateful signs with messages such as “God Hates F—,” the members of Spectrum turned the vigil into a strong demonstration of love, tolerance and diversity. People throughout the crowd held signs reading “Yes Love” and “No Hate” as they lit candles.
The sight of 200 people, gay, straight, from campus and from the community, walking together across the unlit green carrying candles singing “Amazing Grace” was powerful.
The day before our vigil, I was in Washington, D.C. for the National Equality March, where Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard, spoke. She called on people to share their stories with their communities; this is exactly what happened on Monday. Students showed amazing courage in speaking about their personal stories, including painful accounts of horrifying crimes they endured solely because of their sexual orientation. Knowing that people at our college have been the victims of heinous hate crimes, and hearing the pain in their voices, made this even more significant than any professionally organized rally or vigil I have attended.
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By Matthew Gentile
Paying no mind to ignorance is one way of looking at some of the most evil faces in the world. But how can you ignore them? They are so compelling to think about.
The Westboro Baptist Church, as you all know, threatened to come to Connecticut College to protest not only the Matthew Shepard Vigil, but also the production of “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” that premiered in the Palmer Auditorium that same Monday night.
For those of you who don’t know what the Westboro Baptist Church is (and believe me, it is no big deal if you don’t), they are a radical church group in Kansas led by lawyer-turned-pastor Fred Phelps, a figure who is known for preaching philosophies of homophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Irish, anti-Italian and the list goes on.
Being a compulsive reader, I have always had an interest in what I would classify the villains of this world. Fred Phelps to me is a major one, as are his 72 followers (60 of which are family members) who with him, engage in pickets and protests around the country to protest ceremonies and any types of events that endure the acceptance of homosexuality.
Keep in mind that when the late actor Heath Ledger died, as tragic as it was to his family and mainly the people in the country of Australia, Phelps had the nerve to get on a show and talk about how Ledger deserved to die because he portrayed a homosexual in Brokeback Mountain, the same performance that he was nominated for.
I’ve known about this marvelous group of people for awhile, and when I heard that they were coming to Connecticut College, I was shocked. I figured I would see Fred Phelps standing on my campus with a bunch of his ignorant, knuckle-headed protestors looking out onto the green holding up signs that read in black capital letters “GOD HATES F—” and other things of that nature.
What would be my initial reaction if I saw these people? I don’t know – I couldn’t even tell you. I might get enraged and attack them. I might scream, curse, or try to argue intellectually with them.
Or maybe I’d just watch, observe and see how blinded these people are by hatred, ignorance and how distorted their view of the world and religion is, and go on living my life, and be thankful that I am me and not them.
These protestors go out in groups of three to five and generally have a lawyer present with them. They defend what they do as their first amendment right, freedom of speech.
This is the same thing as when ten years ago, poor Matthew Sheperd was murdered by two homophobic students and hung up like a scarecrow. The Westboro Baptist Church thought it would be very important to express their views of the world and picket outside the kid’s very own funeral, so that his grieving parents could see them as they endure the tragic difficulty of putting their son into the ground. A typical hotheaded reaction to these people would be to lose control, and maybe assault them, and this is why they make all of their money, because they win their lawsuits.
The sad part about all this is that these people are unstoppable. They are a small generation, consisting of younger people to elder people and together, they create an existence. Phelps has started an evil legacy that will continue to exist throughout time.
They hate everyone. They hate you if you are anything but White Anglo Saxon Protestant.
They hate me since I am Jewish, but that doesn’t matter. By writing this article right now, I am giving into them, because they are occupying my head.
By reading this article right now and the other responses to them, you too are letting them win because you are letting these low forms of life occupy your mind.
Don’t.
You have better things to do with your day. Pay the Westboro Baptist Church no mind, they are nothing, you are better. Look at them, see who they are, acknowledge what they stand for, but then get out, because there are much better things in life to think about.
