A rainbow wave at TCNJ

October 2, 2009

AT ABOUT 11:45 a.m. on September 23, I was walking out of the student center at the College of New Jersey (TCNJ), and I was greeted by a booming voice shouting, "Homosexuals must repent!"

I then noticed a man fashioning a "Jesus Saves From Hell" shirt and Army fatigue pants. He was toting a large sign reading "Warning: God Haters, Fornicators, Drunks, Mockers, Adulterers, Greedy, Thieves, Liars, Homosexuals, Judgement" in one hand and a Bible in the other. He was accompanied by a stocky man who greatly resembled Michael Moore.

Shocked, I immediately stumbled through my cell phone contact list to call every TCNJ activist I could think of and tell them what was going on. Before I knew it, a small hoard of students gathered at the scene, proudly standing in front of the Student Center with signs with messages such as "Legalize Same-Sex Marriage," "Let My Army Out Of The Closet," and "Doesn't Jesus Teach Us To Love Our Neighbors?"

As the group began to grow, we were approached by a campus police officer. He informed us that the two men had not obtained permission to be there, and that they would be moved. The officer also said that in order to continue our counter-demonstration, we would have to speak with Tim Asher, director of Student Activities, to get his approval--a process that ordinarily takes about a month.

This would have meant a counterprotest was not permitted, period. Beyond violating unabridged free speech, this would have been outright censorship and sets an intolerable precedent for the future.

Carol Bresnahan, executive vice-president of TCNJ, who had joined the counter-demonstration, stepped in and requested that the officer let us continue to protest. From that point forward, the police dropped the issue and only idly watched. However, we were lucky that Vice President Bresnahan was present and supportive.

As time rolled on, the "born-again" demonstrators became increasingly outnumbered as more and more students noticed what was going on and joined the counterprotesters. The protest group grew to as many as 100 students, professors and faculty.

The two men preached their hatred, claiming: homosexuals are better off killing themselves than living as themselves; women belong at home cooking and cleaning; our professors were brainwashing us by teaching "evil-ution"; and that it is morally acceptable to sell one's daughter into slavery as condoned in the bible.

One of the men also made the claim that President Obama was going to put us all in concentration camps by the end of his term. "This is good, free country, you're saying what you want...no martial law yet...no camps yet," one muttered. This begs the question: what kind of hysteria would lead someone to believe that Obama will put everyone in concentration camps? Most likely, that hysteria is rooted in racism.

However, their voices were drowned out by the demonstrators, who chanted, "Gay, straight, Black, white--same struggle, same fight!" and "Homophobic and antigay! Right-wing nutjobs, go away!"

A highlight of the demonstration was when several female students held a "kiss-in," while a tour passed by. The students walked up right next to one of the homophobic bible-thumpers, paired off, and started making out. This was followed by a male couple walking by holding hands. Both displays were met with loud applause and cheering from the sea of demonstrators.


THE TWO men were eventually surrounded by chanting students and rainbow flags. One student, armed with his bible, stood in front of the men explaining the context of their biblical references, correcting some of their misinterpretations. Matt Hoke, senior history major, told the story of the Stonewall riots of 1969 and their role in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement.

One student mocked the men, preaching about his fictional bout with homosexuality. Adam Engel, senior English major, brought further levity by playing "Amazing Grace" and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" on his trumpet. An active member of the College Republicans, who wore a "Friends don't let friends vote Democrat" shirt, gave a short speech on the importance of gay rights--an issue, he said, that is "something we should all agree on."

Many of the students, who no longer saw anything productive coming from engaging the bible-thumpers, led a march away from the scene; leaving the men with little audience.

Some students believe that the demonstration last Wednesday (and protest in general) had no effect. However, the LGBT community at TCNJ certainly felt the effect for the demonstration. Dena Lagomarsino, a junior secondary education and English major, explained, "In flyering for the [National Equality March] in the weeks leading up to the impromptu protest, I was discouraged at times by students who told me they didn't believe in same-sex marriage, but the protest really turned that around."

When discussing the number of straight allies at the demonstration, Lagomarsino said "It became clear that there were a lot more straight allies from all walks of campus life, which was a really elating thing."

Besides the obvious success of uniting students and getting more students interested in the issues raised at the demonstration, the protest also succeeded in proving to the LGBT community at TCNJ that their classmates stand with them.

The born-again protesters managed to act as a galvanizing force; bringing many students, of all political stripes, together in solidarity. The energy at the demonstration was immensely positive. To those who say that it is better to ignore those who spew hateful rhetoric, I can assure you that the feeling and tangible progress achieved from acting in solidarity far surpasses anything that can be gained from turning the other cheek.

Because of the protest, over 30 students signed up on-the-spot to get involved in LGBT activism.

A rainbow wave crashed over TCNJ last Wednesday; and washed away with it any doubt that this campus will stand up against homophobia, sexism and right-wing extremism.
Glenn Eisenberg, Ewing, N.J.

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