shankar2k's Journal: Quiet You!

I'm participating in the Day of Silence again. Basically, many students on campus are dressing all in black and not speaking to draw attentions to hate crimes committed against members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community. I think I have a little too much fun walking around and not speaking. Last year I conducted office hours without speaking, and this year I'll be proctoring a quiz silently.

I told a relation that I would be participating in this event, and they why I'm trying to increase awareness about hate crimes against the LGBT community and not hate crimes in general. I explained that it was sponsored by the Office of LGBT Concerns, and one of my friends works in that office. I'll be honest, I probably wouldn't be involved if I didn't have a friend that works in the office, but what's the harm in that? The point is that I *am* trying to help out, regardless of where my motivations come from right?

At lunch I stood on the Quad with a sandwich board highlighting the story of a particular LGBT hate crime victim. On my board was the story of a 15-year-old girl that was hanging out with some friends on a bus, when some men started sexually harassing them. To show the men they weren't interested they told the men that they were lesbians, at which point the men assaulted them, and the girl was stabbed to death. Pretty gruesome, huh?

I've been thinking about the whole classification of crimes as "hate crimes", and I'm not sure of the need for this distinction. Don't get me wrong, these crimes of violence and murder towards members of the LGBT community are heinous and there needs to be awareness about them. But why does the label "hate crime" need apply? Is a murder more despicable because it has motivations rooted in bigotry? Isn't murder always a bad thing?

As another example of the problems with the "hate crime" label, this columnist for the Daily Illini wrote an article against the creation of so-called "single-use" bathrooms. The columnist believes that the only reason for single-use bathrooms are for cross-dressers, and he believe that such people should just use the bathroom for the gender they actually belong. Now I disagree with the columnist entirely, as there are many more uses for single-use bathrooms than to accomodate transgendered people, and I feel the columnist also demonstrates some ignorance about the LGBT community. However when I went to the Quad today to the Day of Silence booth, I saw this article being listed as "hate speech". Maybe I too am ignorant, but that seems like a very strong categorization. The problem is that once you call an act a "hate crime" or some words "hate speech", there can be no further discussion, and I thought the whole point of bring awareness about issues is so that they will be discussed.

I hope I'm not obfuscating my position on these issues, because after all, I am participating in the event. I'm not talking, and every piece of clothing I'm wearing (yes *every* piece) is black. And I do believe that the ritual of not speaking has some power. People on the Quad stopped and read our sandwich boards. They may only have thought about the issue for a moment, but that's certainly more than nothing.

Trite coincidence

[LPetrazickis]

I am wearing a black shirt, black pants, and black shoes today. White socks, though.

Unlike you, of course, I don't have very good reasons for doing so. Kudos for your willingness to stand up for things you care about.

Re:Trite coincidence

[shankar2k]

Did you talk all that much? It would be nice if we could claim that all of the mute goths of the world were actually campaigning for LGBT rights.