Assault Prompts Rally Against Hate

Prompted by the assault of Galo Garcia III ’05 last Friday, a group of about 200 students gathered on the Science Center lawn yesterday to rally against hate crimes in a show of support organized by the Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA).

According to witnesses, Garcia was assaulted as he walked on Bow Street Friday night by a man—who is not a Harvard affiliate—yelling homophobic epithets.

At the rally, Garcia’s friend David G. Evans ’05, who was with Garcia on Friday night, spoke of his reaction to Friday’s assault. Calling Garcia “short, but strong as hell,” he said that he wasn’t able to hug Garcia when he visited him at the hospital because of his bruises.

“I hate this man for not letting me show my love to my friend in the only way I know how,” Evans said of the perpetrator. “Nobody should be ashamed of who they love.”

Students at the rally and throughout campus donned hot pink bandannas decorated with messages against homophobia, which the BGLTSA passed out throughout the day. Around 1,200 bandannas were distributed, and the group is ordering more to create a display against hate crimes, BGLTSA Public Relations Chair Mischa A. Feldstein ’07 said.

The many speakers at the rally emphasized different issues relating to hate crimes, but the theme of surprised indignation that a hate crime could happen at Harvard was prevalent.

“I think the vast majority of people were shocked by this [the assault],” Feldstein, who is also a Crimson editor, said after the rally.

Other speakers, such as Patrick S. Kelly ’05, shared their experiences of having been subjected to homophobia on and around the Harvard campus.

Kelly said he was assaulted multiple times throughout his four years at Harvard because of his sexual orientation, and said that the administration did not answer his repeated requests for intervention.

The incidents of hate crime “quickly faded from memory and victims are quickly dismissed by members of the administration,” Kelly said.

“This past Friday, Harvard’s apathy has claimed another victim,” he told the crowd.

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Another student, whose account was anonymously read at the rally, wrote that last fall he was assaulted by a drunk Harvard student, who shoved him to the side of Claverly.

Hate crimes “are not necessarily only caused by non-Harvard students,” the student said. “I felt really marginalized.”

In another account of homophobia, Susan B. Marine, director of the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, said that someone told her on the subway, “You’re going to hell, dyke.”

“You don’t have to be beaten up to feel pain,” Marine said to the crowd.

Margaret C.D. Barusch ’06, co-chair of BGLTSA, said the organization often receives hate messages via e-mail. Barusch read out loud some of the last lines of the hate mail, which included, “Stay the fuck off my campus,” and “You are sick, we will crush you like the little bugs you are.”

After the rally, BGLTSA co-chair Jordan B. Woods ’06 said that the large turnout indicated the strength of the Harvard community’s reaction against last week’s hate crime.

“I think that the basic sentiment on campus is that hate crimes affect everyone,” Woods said.

Class Marshal Sheria D. Smith ’05 said the student body as a whole should be reacting to the event.

“Hate crimes against all groups should be treated the same by the administration,” Smith said, adding that homophobic slurs are as offensive as racial slurs such as “nigger” or “kyke.”

Several administrators spoke at the event to share their reaction to Friday’s incident.

Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II said the incident was “an awful crime” and served as a “reminder that there’s a lot of work to be done.”

After the rally, McLoughlin stressed the College’s commitment to taking the issue of homophobia seriously.

“We are not sweeping this out under the rug,” he said, adding that the administration will work with students on more rallies if they are interested.

Students from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School were also present at the rally with signs showing support for the BGLT community.

Tanene Allison, a student at the Kennedy School of Government, read a poem at the rally that she had written in reaction to the incident.

“Our lovin’ at times is too much for them,” she recited.

About 25 participants at the rally carried signs and chanted en route to the location of Friday’s incident, on Bow Street near the Harvard Lampoon, to “take back” the scene of the assault and hold a moment of silence.

—Staff writer Liz C. Goodwin can be reached at goodwin@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Victoria Kim can be reached at vkim@fas.harvard.edu.