VCU Students Plan Events To Counter Wave of Suicides

I am pleased to see that students at Virginia Commonwealth University ("VCU") which two of my children attended are going to implement measures to try to make the campus more welcoming to LGBT students. I applaud their efforts and perhaps they and others can launch a vigil at the offices of Virginia's leading hate merchants, Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Perhaps protesting at the offices of The Family Foundation to draw attention to that organizations constant gay-bashing and foul agenda to make the Commonwealth of Virginia a theocracy might be in order as well. And if such actions were taken, calling the television stations might not be amiss. With the Metropolitan Richmond Visitors and Convention Association seeking to attract gay tourism dollars to the city, I suspect this type of attention would put some much needed heat on Taliban Bob and Kookinelli. The Richmond Times Dispatch has details and here are some highlights:

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Virginia Commonwealth University students plan to make a video with a message of hope for anyone facing the kind of despair that caused a Rutgers University freshman to jump to his death last week. Life can be crushing when viewed "from a very small lens," said Cameron Hunt, a senior who is a member of the executive board of Queer Action, a student organization at VCU.

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The VCU students want to give teens who have been bullied because of their sexual orientation a broader view. To those "who feel lost and feel alone," the message is that life improves, Hunt said. The students plan to make a VCU edition of "It Gets Better," a YouTube video by Seattle columnist and gay activist Dan Savage.

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VCU students also are planning LGBT History Month, with activities beginning Monday that include panel discussions and film presentations to celebrate National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. LGBT History Month events long had been planned, but the video is a response to suicides such as the one at Rutgers, which the university in New Jersey confirmed Wednesday.

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"Anti-gay bullying is a major problem in our community and across the country," said Elizabeth Panilaitis, executive director of ROSMY, a local group that supports sexual-minority youths. Panilaitis said studies show these youths are four times more likely than their peers to attempt suicide. The Rutgers case should serve as a call to action for school administrators to intervene to stop bullying, she said. Whether it was a hate crime or cruel prank is in dispute, but the case resonates with gay students.

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Life can be especially difficult for freshmen facing "forced socialization" in residence halls, said VCU's Hunt. "I think that is one of the hardest places to be yourself," he said. When he came out as a freshman at James Madison University, Hunt said, he was "the target of immediate ostracism" and harassment.

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Liz Canfield, assistant professor of women's studies and the faculty adviser for Queer Action, agrees. "The homophobic voyeurism with which Tyler's personal life was violated is deeply disturbing," she said by e-mail. She hopes campaigns such as the "It Gets Better" project will not only educate and empower but also help "combat heterosexism and homophobia on our campus and in our larger culture."

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Except for pockets of gay harassment in freshman dorms, Hunt doesn't think VCU has a big problem with bullying.