As members of the LGBT and allies community, we want to voice our concern about two recent incidents that occurred last week on campus.
The first occurred the morning of National Coming Out Day. As you may have read in James Bologna's Oct. 12 Daily article, the cannon had originally been painted by the Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA) as a rainbow flag, accompanied by a chalking that said, "Taste the Rainbow."
The following morning, however, the word "rainbow" had been crossed out, and instead the word "smut" had been written next to it, as well as painted on the cannon. The vandals even took care to outline their block lettering in white. Apparently, consideration for one's work does not always compel the same for one's fellow students.
Members of the LGBT community were then left to coordinate painting over the bias incident that had been directed at them, something many found to be additionally painful.
The second incident is one you probably have not read about: It involved two firecrackers being thrown through an open window of the Rainbow House at 3 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 13. A startled resident alerted the police after hearing noise and discovering smoking sparklers in the common room.
It is worth mentioning that the Rainbow House is designated by Tufts University as safe-place housing for LGBT and allied students. Although the incident was not officially classified as bias-related, the possibility that it was motivated by hate has left many in the community feeling shaken.
As a result of these two incidents, members of the Tufts student body came together to plan a response on Monday night. Representatives from the Bias Education and Awareness Team, the QSA, the Chaplain's Office, TCU Senate and other concerned students gathered to formulate a plan of action. Over the course of the meeting, the plan changed from painting the cannon ourselves to holding an event that would allow the entire community to participate.
Today, we hope to paint the cannon collectively to demonstrate our unity as a campus against all forms of intolerance. We hope that anyone who finds this message to be of value will show up during open block and make a public display in support of a safe and accepting campus. Since the cannon can only be painted after sundown, we will have a banner to be signed in solidarity against hate. We wish to get as many different students and campus groups to sign the banner as possible.
We hope to begin our own Tufts tradition today, one during which the cannon will be annually reclaimed as a symbol of campus unity.
Unfortunately, the vandalism that occurred last week is in no way unique. Too often, the cannon is defaced and turned into a source of pain for members of our community. We invite you to gather with us again at 5:30 p.m. to repaint the cannon after sundown with a message of unity and guard it until tomorrow morning at sunrise.
Hot chocolate, snacks and music will be provided courtesy of the QSA. If you want to join us - even if it is for only a short time - we would be delighted to have anyone who is willing to show up.
It should be noted that many members of the LGBT community consider Tufts to be their safe place. Many LGBT students are not out at home and/or come from very homophobic communities in which being out is not only stigmatized, but often dangerous.
Some students have sought out Massachusetts --and, in particular, Tufts - as a place in which they can be open about their sexuality and feel supported by the greater community. Indeed, The Advocate magazine named Tufts as having one of the Top 20 LGBT-friendly college campuses in the country.
But when this otherwise accepting environment is jeopardized by incidents of hate, the entire community must not simply take notice, but also act to ensure the preservation of a welcoming atmosphere.
To this end, we do not plan to have our response end tomorrow morning. We welcome everyone to the QSA meeting on Monday, Oct. 23 at 9:30 p.m. in Eaton 201. Whether you wish simply to give us input or to help plan the next step, we cannot do it by ourselves.
Sofia Nelson is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. She is a member of the Queer Straight Alliance (QSA). Kyle Sinick is a junior majoring in quantitative economics. He is a member of the Bias Education and Awareness Team (BEAT).
