A Call to All Fair Minded Tar Heels

A UNC student was assaulted on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill this weekend in what is being categorized as a hate crime. You can read about the attack here in the Durham Herald-Sun and here in The Daily Tar Heel.

There will be a candlelight gathering in the Pit on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus at 6pm on 01 March 2005 to raise awareness and demand the inclusion of sexual orientation in the State's hate crime law. Please contact your representatives in local, municipal and State government and ask them to sponsor/support legislation to include sexual orientation in their definitions of hate crimes.

The following was taken from a press release about the Speak Out:

"If anyone is interested in attending the protest in response and/or has any questions you can contact me, Anissa at qiethart@hotmail.com

In response to the compromised safety of our fellow UNC student, the GLBT-SA and Amnesty International have decided to organize a Speak Out. All UNC students and community members are welcomed and encouraged to express their outrage with the attack. Hate crimes of any sort, especially those based upon assumed sexual identity, should not and will not be tolerated. A petition will be passed around demanding that sexual orientation be included in North Carolina's definition of what constitutes a hate crime.

*******On Tues, March 1st, Beginning at 6 p.m., we will assemble in the Pit
(on the UNC Campus next to the Student Union across the street from the Bell tower)to light candles. We ask that all participants dress in white, as a symbol of peace. Several speeches will be delivered by local leaders and the microphone will be opened to anyone wishing to speak about hate crimes. At the conclusion of the speeches, a candle-lit processional will begin from the Pit, head through campus quads, and end at the corner of Franklin and N. Columbia streets where the assault occurred.

Please spread the word to all interested parties. The more people that show up for the Speak Out, the stronger our message that hate crimes will not be tolerated on or around this campus, city or in our triangle community."

Categories: LGBTQ politics hate+crimes protest Chapel+Hill North+Carolina