On a brisk fall night earlier this week, upwards of one hundred students, faculty, and other members of the Georgetown community gathered in Red Square to make a clear statement: bigotry and violence towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students have no place at Georgetown. That message shouldn’t require a candlelight vigil, but given the events of the past two weeks, it sadly does.
The vigil was organized in response to three hate crimes. Nine days ago, two men allegedly assaulted a student and made homophobic remarks because of a pro-gay rights shirt she was wearing. On Sunday, a student ended up in the hospital after allegedly being repeatedly asked, “Are you a homo?” and physically assaulted. On Monday, a slur was written on the door of the LGBTQ Center.
Georgetown has come a long way in the past few years toward becoming a safe and accepting place for LGBTQ students, as demonstrated by the year-old LGBTQ Center, and the seriousness with which the University now treats bias-related crimes. Many speakers at the vigil noted that, even a few years ago, it would have been unheard of at Georgetown for so many students to attend a vigil against hate crimes. LGBTQ students and their allies also deserve credit for standing up against hate at a Sunday flash protest. While Georgetown has come a long way, these incidents demonstrate that the University still has much further to go towards true tolerance.
This change will come with time, but there are concrete steps that Hoyas can take now. The most obvious one regards safety. Don’t walk home alone at night, especially when drunk, and don’t let your friends do so either. Victims of bias-related crime must report the incidents immediately. Only once members of the Georgetown community are aware of the seriousness and scope of the problem can we begin to confront it.
But most importantly, students at Georgetown who don’t identify as LGBTQ need to be vocal allies of our LGBTQ community. These bias-related incidents aren’t just about the safety of LGTBQ students—they’re about the safety of the entire Georgetown community and about the tolerance and respect we show each other. Talk about these issues with your friends, speak out against hate crimes, and speak up in support of all members of the Georgetown community, no matter their orientation.
