Vandals spray painted the words “fags burn” and “die” across the outside front door and display case doors at the GLBT Center of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, according to police who are classifying this action as a “hate situation.” The University and students are using the event to address anti-gay issues and will hold a meeting tonight to discussed what their reaction should be.
“Purple spray paint covered the door and display cases with slurs like “fags burn” and “DIE,” reported Laura Wilkinson, Editor-in-Chief of the Technician, N.C. State University’s student newspaper.
Sergeant Jeff Sutton of Campus Police said the vandalism occurred in a span of about 25 minutes, some time between 8:30 and 9Â p.m.
“We do not have any suspects at this time. We’re going to try to look at some camera footage going into Harrelson Hall during that time frame,” Sutton said.
Adam Ward, a graduate student in comparative biomedical sciences, is a graduate adviser for the GLBT Center.
“No one was able to see who sprayed-painted this, but believe me, there will be a University response. We will continue working with University Police, and I thank all of our community members and allies for standing up for equality and what’s right,” Ward said in a Facebook post.
“People have different beliefs, and unfortunately, those don’t always align with what we would hope at the institution that everybody can feel welcome,” Justine Hollingshead, director of the N.C. State GLBT Center told local Raleigh TV station WRAL.
“One or two individuals chose to do what they did in an act of hatred. That’s not the values and beliefs of the institution, and that’s not the values and beliefs of most people that are here,” she added.
This isn’t the first time N.C. State has had to deal with defamatory remarks on the campus.
Racist speech in the campus’s Free Expression Tunnel became an issue after graffiti threatening violence against President Barack Obama was spray painted the night he was elected in November 2008.
The incident prompted the University of North Carolina System to adopt a policy prohibiting actions defined by federal and state laws as hate crimes.
In 2010, someone also painted racist and homophobic graffiti involving Obama in the Free Expression Tunnel, a public pedestrian tunnel on campus where students can express themselves by painting on the walls, ceiling and floor.
(Image by Paul Cash, highlighted to show anti-gay slurs.)
(Hat tip: Towleroad)