UW-Bothell students address anti-gay slur: ‘Look — we’re here and we’re not gonna tolerate this’

Published 2:22 pm Wednesday, November 30, 2011

When Heather Meyer-Love found out about the anti-gay slur that someone scrawled onto a campus map in October, she was offended.

The derogatory word cut deep into her core, just like a sharp object pierced its way into the sign. The University of Washington, Bothell senior and president of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) couldn’t just stand by and let it go. It was time for action.

“For me, this is a compromise and a breach of safety for my community. And as the Gay Straight Alliance president, I feel it is my responsibility to ensure that everyone in this community is treated with respect,” said Meyer-Love. “And that’s why I took the stance to say, ‘Look — we’re here and we’re not gonna tolerate this.’”

Three weeks ago, Meyer-Love spearheaded a “Not On Our Campus” campaign, which saw GSA members sitting at a table in the campus commons area for four days and speaking with students about the incident. About 200 people signed three large posters with both their names and messages to stamp out hatred.

“We want to educate people that may tolerate hate, and listen to people that don’t tolerate it,” said Meyer-Love, sporting a button with a slash through “Hate Crimes.” “It’s been amazing. It’s been received really well.”

Senior Drue Nyenhuis, GSA vice president, says he always felt the campus was a safe and open-minded institution, but this incident has him thinking twice.

“It reminded me of regressing back to juvenile, high-school age,” he said. “That’s not the respectful, higher-level academic setting that we’re in. We’re performing at a better level.”

Meyer-Love first discussed the matter with Freddie Hensen, president of the Associated Students of UW-Bothell (AS UW-B), who noted that the graffiti was written right outside of his office. Only a few people saw the writing before the sign was removed from the wall, Meyer-Love said, adding that with two openly gay members in AS UW-B, “We feel that this may have been an attack against them because it was directly outside of their office.”

Next up, Meyer-Love and others met with Chancellor Kenyon Chan about the matter, and a member of the Student Life group brought the sign along as evidence of the “cowardly act,” as the GSA president terms it. Meyer-Love said she’s never dealt with any anti-gay issues on campus, but has heard of other gay students being confronted at UW-Bothell.

“I speak my mind, have an opinion and am a huge activist for gay rights,” said Meyer-Love, who is planning a zero-tolerance campaign in January with guest speakers, music and more.

In an e-mail to students and faculty, Chan noted that “although this offense was targeted at our LGTB (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual) community, it is an insult to all of us. I hope all of you will join me in commenting on the ‘wall’ and signing the commitment. It will demonstrate to those who were wounded by this single act of hate that this community stands with them.” (The “wall” and commitment refer to the “Not On Our Campus” campaign to “take a stand against any and all hateful actions.”)

Chan added that the school reported the incident to Campus Safety and the Bothell Police Department for investigation. The perpetrator was not identified at press time.

Vice Chancellor Richard Penny said this is the first anti-gay incident that the administration has heard of, and he noted “How proud we are of our students, the way they’re turning what was certainly a very, very unfortunate and regrettable event” into an educational dialogue between the students through the campaign.

Junior Kasey Burger signed the “wall” during the campaign and echoes Penny’s message: “I definitely think it’s a positive, saying not to have hatred toward other people just because they’re different than you. I definitely think that’s something that UW has tried to do is to bring many diverse students together and teach us about our community and bring everyone closer.”