Examiner: Dead UT Frat Pledge Covered in Gay Slurs
New details have surfaced regarding the December 2005 death of a pledge at a Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity house party at the University of Texas Austin.
A medical examiner's report says that freshman Phanta ''Jack'' Phoummarath, whose body was found the night after the party, had been defaced from head to toe in offensive graffiti:
"The Travis County medical examiner's office reported that partygoers used green and black markers to write ''FAG,'' ''I'm gay'' and ''I AM FAT'' on Phoummarath's head, face, torso, legs and feet. Someone also added drawings depicting naked men and women and blackened his toenails."
Phoummarath died of acute alcohol poisoning and was found to have a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit.
According to the family's attorney, Phoummarath was not gay. Three members of the fraternity were indicted last month on hazing charges.
Dead student's body defaced with anti-gay comments [ap]
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.... while I feel sorry for the guy I just don't understand why these guys want to get involved in fraternities in the first place what with their bizarre ritual hazings and other bullshit. I mean don't these guys read or watch the news? Or know any campus gossip with the lowdown? This ain't the first time this has happened, you know. Seems to me if you want to join a fraternity you are asking for it big time. Ain't no club I wanna join that's worth my life!
Posted by: miss dna | Jan 10, 2007 11:12:55 AM
Well I'm glad that the Phoummarath family attorney made it clear that the kid was NOT gay.
A kid died as a result of illegal fraternity hazing and illegal under-aged drinking. The incident was an extremely visual and frightening example of the raging homophobia that exists in our society but the priority issue is making sure that everyone knows that the kid was straight.
I guess now that we know that the kid was an INNOCENT victim of homophobia we can become outraged.
This is such a horrible story. I feel deep sorrow for the grieving family in their tremendous loss. However I can't help but think, and fear, that people will completely miss one of the most obvious lessons that should be gleaned from this tragedy.
They will realize that more needs to be done about under-aged drinking. They will realize that laws and rules against hazing must be enforced. They will be outraged that a kid and his family was humiliated by being called "gay" and "fag" but they will totally miss the fact that this was an outrageous act of homophobia and that homophobia hurts EVERYONE and is unacceptable regardless of the orientation of the victim.
Programs will likely be developed and disseminated to educate students about the dangers of alcohol and hazing but I doubt anyone will propose, or even consider, developing, much less disseminating, educational material about the inappropriateness of and dangers inherent in homophobia.
Perhaps when straight people (especially straight MEN) realize that they are victimized by homophobia every bit as much as gay men and lesbians are, then they will take the issue more seriously.
Posted by: Zeke | Jan 10, 2007 11:25:37 AM
"The incident was an extremely visual and frightening example of the raging homophobia that exists in our society but the priority issue is making sure that everyone knows that the kid was straight.
I guess now that we know that the kid was an INNOCENT victim of homophobia we can become outraged."
My reaction exactly. Well stated, Zeke.
Posted by: nuflux | Jan 10, 2007 11:37:00 AM
we draw on people sometimes too if they get drunk and pass out. True, the remarks on him were of a homophobic nature, but I doubt that his death has anything to do with homophobia. He frankly drank too much in college, it happens all the time, and his buddies marked him up with a marker. Only this time he drank WAY too much and died from it.
Posted by: Tranny Duke | Jan 10, 2007 11:38:34 AM
Texas again.
Posted by: jmg | Jan 10, 2007 11:50:23 AM
I entirely agree with your comment, Zeke. Homphobia is dangerous and contemptible whether its target was gay or not. I did want to suggest that the kid could have been gay or questioning despite the lawyer's comments otherwise; just because the lawyer and family insist that their son was straight does not necessarily mean he was. But again, it is a terrible awful tragedy no matter what.
Posted by: GBM | Jan 10, 2007 11:59:45 AM
It is a pitty that he died. My heart goes out to the family. But messing with a drunk and passed out person is old school party fun. Who cares what was written on him, except self-absorbed dolts trying to rally the homosexual cause. Someone lost their son. Put your agenda on the back burner you inconsiderate (insert explicative of your choice here)!
Posted by: jackal | Jan 10, 2007 12:05:04 PM
Tranny Duke, for the record, no one suggested that the kid died as a result of homophobia. In fact I was very careful in separating the different issues (under-aged drinking, hazing, homophobia, etc.) that this incident brought to light.
Jackal (appropriate nick by the way), it DOES matter what was written on this kid. No one was trying to take away from the tragedy of the kid’s death or the family’s loss or trying to politicize his death but it is perfectly appropriate to point out that one component of the tragedy was the clear and visible homophobia displayed by his fellow partiers.
Rally the homosexual cause? Are you serious? That’s got James Dobson written all over it! Are you writing directly from Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs or are you just another one of their sheep?
Posted by: Zeke | Jan 10, 2007 12:50:24 PM
Question to Jackal:
Had the remarks scrawled on the kid been of a racist nature and the Asian community were to react to it with concern, would you chastise them for being "self-absorbed dolts trying to rally the [Asian] cause"?
Posted by: Zeke | Jan 10, 2007 12:55:02 PM
I sent an email to the national Lambda Phi Episilon chapter politely and gentley encourageing them to not let this pledge's death be in vain.
I suggested that they develope educational and instructional training that specifically and individually addresses the issues of alcohol abuse, under-aged drinking, hazing and homophobia in the college/fraternity environment and make it required training for every current brother of Lambda Phi Epsilon as well as every future pledge to the fraternity. I also encouraged them to encourage the greater Greek community to do the same in memory of Mr. Phoummarath.
Hopefully they will take the suggestion seriously.
Posted by: Zeke | Jan 10, 2007 1:15:23 PM
The problem here is not that his frat brothers believed him to be a homosexual and decided to poison him with alcohol. The problem is the college culture of alcohol consumption. His frat brothers had no intent of killing him and their lives are forever changed as well. They likely went through the same hazing in years past and knew it as a social ritual that was a part of their culture. Austin and the University of Texas are very progressive and are considered as liberal almost any California cities/schools. Texans are not genetically corrupted homophobic malicious alcoholics. Also, it should be noted that those involved were Vietnamese. It was not a bunch of cowboys looking to kill a Vietnamese homosexual.
Posted by: Chase | Jan 10, 2007 1:57:46 PM
Zeke, I totally get your point, however, I have a very difficult time criticizing a grieving family for pointing out that their son was not gay. After all, unless he had come out to them, they didn't know him as gay, thus they probably feel an overwhelming need to hold onto their son as they knew him resulting in behavior such as denying that he was homosexual. If someone had written on the kid "I'm purple" the family would have probably denied that he was purple. That's just the nature of grief. I applaud you for writing the fraternity's national chapter and encouraging them to take all the issues (alcohol abuse, underage drinking, hazing, homophobia) seriously. Perhaps we should all drop a line to the appropriate people at UT Austin as well letting them know they should educate students about the same issues.
Posted by: peterparker | Jan 10, 2007 1:58:29 PM
Yale students beat up in San Fran!!! Called "faggots!!!"
California Again.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/10/BAGPQNG2MM1.DTL
Posted by: Chase | Jan 10, 2007 2:07:06 PM
Chase, again, who suggested that homophobia had anything to do with the kid's death? I've read the story and all of the comments here and I haven't seen one sentence that states or even insinuates that the kid was targeted for poisoning or that his frat brothers intended to kill him due to homophobia or any other reason.
With all due respect, I honestly wish everyone would concentrate more on reading comprehension when participating in these discussions.
PeterParker, your point is well taken and I certainly considered this point before I made my comment. My issue was more with the attorney’s statement, which seemed to place the importance of informing the public that the victim was straight over any of the numerous other issues related to the tragedy. I attempted, poorly I must confess, to make that distinction plain. I certainly have no issue with this kid’s family and don’t for one moment question why THEY would want to make it clear that their son wasn’t gay. There are many reasons why they might feel the need to publicly clarify the record. My issue was specifically with the method of the attorney’s statement and the fear that the homophobic incident, which was completely unrelated to his death but disturbing none the less, would be ignored.
Posted by: Zeke | Jan 10, 2007 2:45:32 PM
Good comments! The alcoholism, death, and homophobia are all tragic and disgusting.
Posted by: Nikko | Jan 10, 2007 3:03:24 PM
Zeke, I was with you all the way, as usual Bud, until your last post regarding the attorney's statement. Rest assurred that the attorney was only doing what the family wanted/requested/directed. It is highly likely that the family would want to downplay the homosexual aspects and told the attorney to proclaim that their son was not gay. That's only a slightly more benign form of homophobia, but the attorney remains the mouthpiece not the instigator. The evil of homophobia remains irrespective of the mouthpiece. I respect your willingness to contact the national office of the frat's chapter but I doubt that it will have much effect. The Lamda Phi's are a particularly homophobic frat because they are routinely derided as the "Lambie pies" by the more overtly macho frat's such as the Sigma Chis. Unfortunately, hazing, and anti-homosexual hazing in particular, is as much a part of Greek life as drunken frat brothers having sex with each other regularly but ascribing it to the beer and the "God was I drunk, I don't remember anything from last night" rationale. This will not change until colleges strictly enforce the anti-hazing and anti-discrimination policies and rules already in place. None of this changes the tragedy for the family of a dead son but they are attempting to assuage their grief by fending off the further shame of having the public believe their son was gay. That is a perfect example of the pernicious and evil effects of homophobia.
Posted by: rudy | Jan 10, 2007 3:04:02 PM
Zeke...in your first sentence in your first post on this topic I missed the word 'attorney'. I see your point much more clearly now. Apologies.
Posted by: peterparker | Jan 10, 2007 3:04:09 PM
I'm with Zeke as well...cause even though the death was possibly accidental, the question is this:
Isn't the very practice of (extreme) hazing at fratenities often rooted in basic homophobia?
It would appear to be, based on what is usually involved in them and the markings found on Jack's body...In that sense, it's important to sensibilize fraternities on the dangers of homophobia culture, as I'm sure this guy would be alive today if they had been.
Posted by: Da | Jan 10, 2007 3:46:41 PM
I was the one who forwarded this story to Andy and I'd like to thank him for posting it.
I'm pleased to see intelligent viewpoints (for the most part) instead of the ranting that usually goes on.
Shout out to PeterP and Zeke! Heyyyyyy!
Posted by: soulbrotha | Jan 10, 2007 4:01:52 PM
I assume the basic order of events was:
He got drunk and passed out.
They wrote all over him.
He died.
The other two possibilities are more disturbing:
The wrote all over him.
He got drunk and passed out.
He died.
or
He got drunk and passed out.
He died.
They wrote all over him.
The last one is quite incomprehensible.
The writing was probably and attempt at degregating embarrassment more than anything.
Posted by: anon | Jan 10, 2007 4:05:07 PM
Thank you Zeke, especially for putting that idiot Jackal in his/her place. =)
Posted by: lulu | Jan 10, 2007 9:18:13 PM
Zeke, you should have your own blog, my gay brother! Your comments were well focused and well written, which unfortunately I find to be an aberation on most sites.
Posted by: John | Jan 10, 2007 10:08:15 PM