LGBTQA Vigil

LGBTQA Alliance of City College, the Office of Student Life and other allies held a vigil in response to the recent suicide of Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi as well as, Asher Brown (age 13), Seth Walsh (age 13), Billy Lucas (age 15), and Raymond Chase (age 19). It may seem curious as to why so many LGBTQ related suicides occurred recently, but according to Hector Martinez, "LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than their strait peers" and that "twenty to forty percent of the homeless population in New York City is identified as LGBTQ." The story that brought these other other similar tragedies into such a light was unique in itself. The story is that Tyler Clementi's roommate secretly filmed him on a webcam being sexually active with another man, leading to the event in which Tyler jumped off the George Washington Bridge.



Vigils in solidarity with the LGBTQ community and youth, occurred all across the country. At CCNY, it was emphasized by the representatives of Student Life, Student Government, The Wellness Center, the affirmative action office, the office of the campus minister, and the study abroad office that these are all places where students can to talk about various such issues. The staff member of the study abroad office, who did not appear to be too much older than the average student, shared that he would be a good person to talk to, that he came out while in college, and that it was not easy. It was noted that there is a Coming Out Group for LGBQ People forming, Tuesdays from six to seven-thirty PM at the Psychology Center in the NAC 8-101.

There were two perspectives given to look at the oppression of LGBTQ peoples and solutions to it, at the vigil. One was that the problem is systemic, that homophobia is encouraged by the larger context of our society. The recent legislative actions taken that don't allow gays to marry, to be openly gay in the military and other forms of discrimination feed homophobia into domestic settings. A political movement to change these things would then be an answer. The other perspective was that we can reverse the tide by simple acts of kindness, by making sure people know that we care about them. Actions of neither sort may include going to a vigil, or by going to a meeting of the LGBTQA Alliance.