This week read about ex-frat members terrorizing students in an LGBT safe house at a university in Pennsylvania, and New York Pride un-banning cops then re-banning them from participating in the parade.
Ex-Frat Members Attack LGBT Safe House
Students at Bucknell University are calling on their administration to take permanent action after a physical attack on the campus LGBT affinity house earlier this month.
Fran’s House Residential Adviser Tyler Luong wrote in a letter that residents were preparing for finals as members of Tau Kappa Epsilon, a fraternity that was banned by the university in 2018 for violating hazing policies, surrounded the house, beating on doors and windows, urinating on the porch, and demanding that the students let them in. He also described how the campus Public Safety department arrived late, ignored the residents of the house and shook hands with the offenders.
In a May 14 letter sent to students, Bravman wrote, “We cannot erase the ugliness and subsequent trauma of last night’s transgression against the students of Fran’s House and, implicitly, many others, but we can commit to addressing it in a way that protects LGBTQ Bucknellians and better ensures their safety in the future.”
The university has banned the seniors who participated in the attack from the school’s graduation ceremony, but Fran’s House residents said they want to see the house become a permanent LGBT safe house.
Cops Un-banned, then Re-banned from NYC Pride
NYC Police. Photo via PublicDomainPictures.net.
Just days after Heritage of Pride organizers announced that uniformed NYPD officers were banned from NYC pride until 2025, members voted to allow the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) to march in uniform.
Shortly after, the executive board voted to overturn the decision, standing in their initial ruling to keep armed and uniformed offices out of the parade “in an effort to be mindful and focus on our mission of creating safe space for marginalized communities,” according to a letter sent to HOP membership.
The board wrote, “The NYPD, and policing across America, is fundamentally flawed. These are institutions that started as slave patrols, and continue to oppress Black, Brown, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQ individuals, and individuals who stand at the intersections of these identities.”
GOAL President Brian Downey told Gay City News, “We are still disappointed with the executive leadership of Heritage of Pride and their stance on our participation.”
The first pride marches were protests in response to violent attacks by NYPD officers on queer communities of color, and the board said the abuse hasn’t stopped, citing 2020 attacks on queer protestors last summer following George Floyd’s death. The board plans to schedule another meeting to discuss the issue.
