The recent theft of LGBTQ+ signage from the offices of multiple faculty members across CNU has outraged many across campus. The act of blatant homophobic vandalism prompted a strong response from CNU administration and staff, who widely condemned the incident. But how is this act of vandalism affecting students, particularly Captains who are in the LGBTQ+ community?
Right now, LGBTQ+ rights are under attack across the nation. The Human Rights Campaign declared a “state of emergency” in July of this year for LGBTQ+ Americans due to an uptick of harmful legislation and hate crimes in the country. It appears almost weekly that bigoted rhetoric is spewed publically and acts of harassment and violence are directed at the queer community. While this incident may seem small, it is a piece of a much larger and much more hateful trend that’s in the public sphere.
Jasper Alexander, one of the leaders of Spectrum, the LGBTQ+ student advocacy group on campus, heard of the vandalism from a professor the day after the thefts happened.
Alexander expressed surprise and disappointment at the incident. “I have lived in a county where homophobia and transphobia was rampant.”
“What I am seeing now is just a widespread version of the town I grew up in and I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of these people who have a lot of hate within them would rather have their hatred spread than just do what a lot of people in the queer community are doing, which is saying ‘Hey I just wanna live
here man,’” Alexander added.
Regardless of all of the negativity associated with this incident, Alexander expressed gratitude towards the new administration for its swift condemnation and an expression of support for the queer community. Alexander also hopes that CNU will continue to be a safe place for LGBTQ+ students and says that the SafeZone stickers and other signs of visibility help let those students know that they are welcome here.
