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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2004)
Ah ^dependent newspaper http://www.dailyemerald.com The rampage continues Page 12 Thursday, April 22, 2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 139 Day of Silence honors plight of LGBTQ youth About 45 University students and community members spent Wednesday in silent vigil, then marched to South Eugene High School By Chelsea Duncan Senior News Reporter Even though many of the students participating in Wednesday's national Day of Silence had red tape across their mouths, their message against discrimination was loud and clear. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students from the University and local high schools, along with their allies, took a daylong vow of silence to make a statement against harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ youth. South Eugene High School junior Jordan Enge said the vow of silence and the red duct tape students wore was meant to empha size the difficulties LGBTQ students face in school and at home. "That exaggeration shows people how intense it really is," he said, adding that anti-gay sentiments are common at his high school. "We're silent all day, symbolically, but what we're really going to do is try to act to end the silence." The day is organized nationally by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in collaboration with the United States Student Association, according to http://www.dayofsilence.com. The stu dent-led event was founded in 1996 at the LIniversity of Virginia. Since then, the day has become one of the largest student-led actions toward ending discrimination in schools, according to the Web site. Springfield High School junior Devin McGeehan said the si lence was representative of the suppression LGBTQ youth face in speaking out about their sexuality. "There's a huge portion of the student population who can't express who they are because it's considered socially unaccept able," he said. "The silence kind of symbolizes the silence that queer youth face on a daily basis." University junior Hanna Persson said LGBTQ students don't always feel safe discussing their sexuality in school environments or at home, which is why the group encourages people to speak openly about the issues. "I think a lot of people don't necessarily feel safe coming out," he said. "It ends up being a big part of a person's life that they don't talk about." Persson said the message to speak out against discrimination is particularly important in today's social climate, which has been stirred up by controversies over same-sex marriages. "People have had homophobic experiences on campus," Persson said. Turn to RALLY, page 6 PLANET PROTECTORS Adam Amato Senior Photographer Environmental-activist Julia Butterfly Hill took part in the University’s Earth Day events Wednesday. Hill spent two years in a tree to protest logging. Honor thy mother Earth Day festivities kick off a day early on campus By Steven Neuman News Reporter The ASUO celebrated an early Earth Day on Wednesday under intermit tent rain showers and a patchy gray sky. Volunteers for local environmental or ganizations huddled around canopied ta bles, and students, huddling beneath bob bing umbrellas, assembled a recycled mosaic from colorful plastic bottle tops in the EMU Amphitheater. "The weather has definitely been an in teresting force," ASUO Environmental Re lations Coordinator Corey Harmon said. 'The earth is telling us that it's alive." The celebration was, for the most part, a local affair. Booths included exhibits from Eugene Water and Electric Board, Campus and BRING Recycling, the Cascadia Wildlands Project, OSPIRG, Bioneers and Amnesty International. Events throughout the day included musical performances by the Reed Whor ton Band, Rhetoric Tuesday, Eugene Bat tle of the Bands winner Opie, as well as speeches by different activists. Although Earth Day is officially on Thursday, Harmon said the celebration was held on Wednesday because of scheduling conflicts for the EMU. 'There were previously planned events Turn to EARTH DAY, page 6 Tim Bobosky Photographer Participants in the national Day of Silence rally march on East 13th Avenue from the University to South Eugene High School. The day commemorates LGBTQ students and the difficulties they face in school and at home. Calif, gay marriage moves forward A bill passed in the state’s Judiciary Committee is unlikely to reach full assembly this year By Ann E. Marimow Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Reinforcing California's contrarian image, the Democ rat-controlled Legislature Tuesday took the first step toward legalizing gay marriage at a time when many states seek to ban it. Gay rights advocates hailed the 8 to 3 vote by the Assembly Judiciary Committee as a historic civil rights victory, even as they conceded the bill is a long shot for passage this year. Democrats favored the bill; Re publicans opposed it. The move made California's Legislature the first in the nation to register any offi cial support for a gay marriage bill, pro ponents said. Assemblyman Mark Leno, the bill's au thor, made a passionate plea to the com mittee not to treat him as a second-class cit izen because he is gay. "By denying marriage, you are implying there is something inherendy inferior and unstable about the way that I love and that's just wrong," said Leno, D-San Francisco. Opponents of the measure said it would undermine the traditional definition of marriage and flout a voter-backed inidadve four years ago that defined marriage as be tween a man and a woman. "This bill is illegitimate, it is unconsti tutional and it is immoral," said Randy Thomasson of the Campaign for California Families. It is considered unlikely that Leno's bill will reach the full Assembly this year. Pro ponents had to press legislative leaders for weeks to get a hearing. Leno's bill would rewrite state law to define marriage as between "two per sons" instead of between a man and a woman. The key issue is whether lino's effort would violate another section of state law created by Proposition 22, which 61 percent of voters approved in 2000. The dispute centers on the intent and interpretation of that initiative. To opponents of gay marriage, the meas ure defined marriage in California as be tween a man and a woman. But gay-marriage proponents said Proposition 22 was narrowly designed to prohibit California from recognizing Turn to MARRIAGE, page 4 WEATHER HIGH 66 INSIDE Campus buzz.20 Classifieds.19 Commentary..2 Crossword.19 Pulse.7 Sports.15 NEXT ISSUE Electronic voting machines: Trouble in a box
