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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
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