made the news!

[myself_i_must_remake]

Protest Video and Story!

 

With an appearance by yours truly.

[Nephylim]

Well, I watched it from beginning to end. My observations

 

YAY to you, all of you.

 

Why the hell were there so many cops and 'authority figures'? Are they really so scared of you

 

Which one was you... I looked close but couldn't work it out.

 

I am impressed with the dignity and determination of the protestors

 

That girl holding up the sign must have had really strong arms.

 

What happened after?

[NightOwl88]

Very Nice, the cop man handling the one student could actually get in some trouble.

[JamesSavik]

*worries that Billy might find himself in a bad situation off camera Proud that he's standing up to make a difference *

[Mark Arbour]

What did they say to you guys to make you just walk off?

[Arpeggio]

Yay for Billy and those other students

[Cia]

I truly hope that you all remain safe while in the campus community. Based on the additional article I read it sounds as if there is an increasing risk to members of the LGBT community there, especially if the adminstration isn't supporting stronger anti-discrimination policies and strategies. Good for you and everyone else there for making a stand on this issue!

[Simon]

Wow! Go you and your friends!!

Stay safe but damn I like it!

 

Its such a shame they dont include it.

In my college and practicly all in England you get instantly kicked out for any discrimination.

Or...they get a law suit.

 

Good luck!

[wildone]

Like I said to you already, great job and good for you .

 

I hope today wasn't any different as far as the college promising not to take any action and to listen to your concerns about the discrimination against the faculty and staff.

 

Be proud of yourselves, you got your message across in a strong, peaceful way. Good on ya

[MikeL]

Cool move, dude. I am impressed that you and others were willing to take a stand (or seat as it were) for what you believe in. Not knowing what was said by police or school officials, it appeared they handled the incident calmly. I hope you get the anti-discrimination policy soon.

[thatboyChase]

lol

[Former Member]

Sorry, but I do not really see what sense this kind of protest made. What was the reason for it? Was anyone not allowed on the team because they were not straight? I cannot see any connections between a basketball game and gay rights. I do not think you would like to have a basketball team have a sit-in at a gay pride either.

 

Tob

[Aeroplane]

Aw cool . Ive been following this on facebook and hope you have your rights acknowledged.

 

I couldnt spot you either. =(

 

 

What did the people led off at various times do to be removed individually?

[Steve3]

Very proud of you and your friends Billy.

 

Steve3

[ricky]

Sorry, but I do not really see what sense this kind of protest made. What was the reason for it? Was anyone not allowed on the team because they were not straight? I cannot see any connections between a basketball game and gay rights. I do not think you would like to have a basketball team have a sit-in at a gay pride either.

 

Tob

 

Tob

I don't think there needs to be a corrilation. It was a large gathering of the student body. It was a way to bring it to the attention of a large number of students. People are generally against discrimination regardless of the type. Many are aware that all that is needed for injustice to prevail is for a good person to do nothing. The game was not disrupted significantly and the demonstration went on long enough for the message to get delivered. After all, you want these students on your side.

 

As for the jocks sitting in on a gay pride event. I love the smell of the locker room. Bring'em on. Perhaps we can turn a few. I can promise they'll leave with bigger smiles than this bunch did!

 

cheers!

[John Doe]

It's nice to know that there are those who will speak up for those too afriad to do so or cannot. Thanks! And go you!

[myself_i_must_remake]

To update you all:

 

The protest was carried out in response to the university's refusal to protect LGBT faculty, a decision we believe that contributes to the overall climate of JCU that discriminates not only against the LGBT crowd, but essentially anyone who is not white, middle-upper class, Catholic, prep-school types. The administrators talking to us during the protest were ultimately offering us negotiations upstairs which we eventually engaged in, and telling us that we were causing problems that would extend outside of John Carroll.

 

The video has caught some attention. In the Cleveland area, it was featured on FOX news with several student interviews. Members of LGBT groups from other universities, especially Jesuit ones, have contacted us and similar demonstrations are expected to precipitate.

 

The students in the protest are now participating in a month long rolling hunger strike where we maintain an area in the atrium of the student center to raise awareness and gather signatures for those who support the addition of the non-discrimination clause in the university's hiring policy. What happens is groups of five students fast for twenty-four hours and sleep in the atrium, and then switch at midnight. We attend classes, but try to keep people at the station at all times.

 

The demonstration has received polarized reactions, as expected, from gushing support from other universities to ill-informed responses like that of this man:

Some of the responses on YouTube to our video include calls to have us tazered and beaten up. Many of the comments operate under the assumption that we're asking for marriage rights; this shows how people are attacking their impression of us instead of our actual selves.

 

In response to Tob's facetious remark regarding the basketball team's sitting in on one of our events: we'd love them to. They're so cute. In seriousness: we delayed their game approximately nine minutes after a ceremony in which several students were given awards for community service. We chose this moment because several of the board members who voted down faculty protection were present at the event. After years of using the university-sanctioned channels for change and seeing no results, this measure was inexorable. Several of the basketball players have voiced their support of the action. If any were inconvenienced, we are very sorry.

 

If any of you belong to an LGBT group, please make this video available to them. We are trying to cultivate visibility and incite similar changes on other campuses.

[Drak]

To update you all:

 

I was impressed by your message above. It shows quite a bit of maturity and social awareness. A non-discrimination clause is a modest and reasonable goal that many people will support.

[Linxe Termoil]

Billy's the one in the yellow and blue striped beanie right?

 

Or perhaps he was the cute on in the front top right with the glasses on.

 

Okay, so seriously, good job. I'm still waiting for the rest of the video to load but I can't wait to see the rest of it.

[Skyline]

Nicely done

[KJames]

[Linxe Termoil]

Okay, maybe he was the cute one in the blue and black checkered hat, or at the aforementioned top front, the cute one with brown hair and glasses.

 

This is going to bug me all day now. So much for homework, heheh. Once again, Good Job.

[Mark Arbour]

I think he's throwing us a curve ball. I think he was one of those cute guys playing basketball.

[methodwriter85]

On one hand, its cool to see kids standing up for their beliefs like that. But on the other hand...its a Catholic private college. I can't see how much good it will do, because a school affiliated with the Catholic church doesn't have to comply with non-discrimination policies because of the fact that its private. Not to mention that because Catholic teachings are clearly against homosexuality, so the school can pretty claim that forcing them to provide protections to gay faculty would be condoing homosexuality, and would therefore go against their beliefs as an institution. I went to a Methodist college once, and I remember they actually had to look up Methodist doctrine to see if having a GSA would go against it. It didn't, so it was allowed to happen. Still, Methodism is not nearly as conservative as Catholicism. No offense, man, but why would any gay person actually want to attend a college that is affiliated with a very anti-gay church?

[Drak]

On one hand, its cool to see kids standing up for their beliefs like that. But on the other hand...its a Catholic private college. I can't see how much good it will do, because a school affiliated with the Catholic church doesn't have to comply with non-discrimination policies because of the fact that its private. Not to mention that because Catholic teachings are clearly against homosexuality, so the school can pretty claim that forcing them to provide protections to gay faculty would be condoing homosexuality, and would therefore go against their beliefs as an institution. I went to a Methodist college once, and I remember they actually had to look up Methodist doctrine to see if having a GSA would go against it. It didn't, so it was allowed to happen. Still, Methodism is not nearly as conservative as Catholicism. No offense, man, but why would any gay person actually want to attend a college that is affiliated with a very anti-gay church?

 

It is good that there are brave and intelligent young people that want to try to improve conditions for themselves and others. No one is forcing the school to do anything. There is nothing wrong with protesting. Students are too complacent as it is these days, and you can see where the country has gone. There are plenty of reasons a gay person attends a Catholic college, or joins the Marines, or enters any other hostile environment. Not everyone runs away at the first hint of danger. There are pioneers who blaze the trail for others. I attended a conservative college back when sodomy was illegal. It was a different world back then for gays. Not at all like today. The reason that young gays have it better today is that there were hell-raisers back in the day that got fed up with the status quo and decided to take big risks in order to change things. You asked why a gay person would attend a Catholic college. My reason for going to a conservative college was that I did not have any choice in the matter. It was either go there, or skip college and work at the factory. I did not engage in any protests at that particular time. There was not much protesting going on, and I did not know many gay people either. However, I don't rationalize my past decision of doing nothing, just because I hear about someone else who is doing something. I say, more power to him and to everyone that engages in peaceful and constructive protest on important issues. As for the Catholic church, its doctrine has altered over the years regarding homosexuality. The Church's position is not carved in stone forever and ever. There are many Catholics who favor change on the issue of homosexuality. The same applies to many other denominations.