Equality NC Responds to Vandalism at NCSU GLBT Center
10/18/2011 - North Carolina State University's campus’ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) student center was reportedly vandalized on Monday evening. In an act being called a "hate incident," the unidentified perpetrators used purple spray paint to write “fags burn” and “DIE” on the center’s door and display cases.
According to The Technician, North Carolina State University’s student newspaper, campus police are calling the vandalism a "hate incident," rather than a hate crime. ”A hate crime has to be against a person… there’s generally some violence involved in the situation. Nobody was named in the writing, and because it wasn’t against a person, it’s a hate incident,” Sergeant Jeff Sutton of Campus Police told the University paper.
Sergeant Sutton told the paper that Campus Police did not have any suspects for the vandalism which he believed occurred in a "span of 25 minutes, some time between 8:30 and 9 p.m. on the evening of October 17."
A representative from the Raleigh-based NCSU GLBT Center said that despite the vandalism, the University community will continue seeking justice and promoting LGBT equality. "No one was able to see who sprayed-painted this, but believe me, there will be a University response. We will continue working with University Police, and I thank all of our community members and allies for standing up for equality and what's right," Adam Ward, a graduate student in comparative biomedical sciences and graduate adviser for the GLBT Center said in a Facebook post.
The anti-LGBT vandalism occurred only one month after the N.C. General Assembly passed anti-LGBT legislation, moving a same-gender marriage ban that also prohibits civil unions and strips domestic partner benefits, to the May 2012 primary ballot.
"The passage of this amendment clearly sanctions other discriminatory acts against LGBT people and, in the process, creates a climate of fear for LGBT people, their families, their children, and all who love them," said Alex Miller, Equality NC's interim executive director. "This hateful act will only serve to draw attention to our efforts and push us to work even harder to inform the public about the dangers of anti-LGBT legislation to our state, our communities, and our young people."
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HARMS OF THE ANTI-LGBT CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
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