Christopher Hagen, a 19-year old student at the University of Rhode Island, was detained last night after leaving blatantly anti-gay threats on a fellow student's door.
"You are gay, get out of Barlow [Hall] before you regret it." Hagen wrote on a dry erase board, next to a picture of a penis, leading campus police to
charge him with misdemeanor vandalism and disorderly conduct.
In the wake of four gay suicides this week, including Rhode Island student
Raymond Chase, it's nice to see officials taking this matter seriously, rather than just dismissing Hagen's actions as a fluke.
Remembering teens Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Raymond Chase & Tyler Clementi. They were someones loved children. Christopher Hagen's words and actions against gays equate accessory. He has blood on his hands. These fatal results were caused by people like Christopher Hagen.
Posted by: CB | Oct 1, 2010 12:00:44 PM
Jesus H. Christ, what is wrong with these people.
It's like someone's stirred a hornets' nest of hateful bigots.
...then they fight you, then you win!
I'm ready for the winning part!
Posted by: TampaZeke | Oct 1, 2010 12:05:29 PM
This guy needs to be bounced out of school. I'm not advocating jail, necessarily, but clearly people like this don't know how to behave in a society.
I'm pretty sure his parents need to be beaten too. Children have to be taught to hate, as is so clearly evident in most xian households in America, and in many fundamentalist households across the globe.
Posted by: MikeInSanJose | Oct 1, 2010 12:07:09 PM
When asked in a recent Rolling Stone interview who he was listening to on his Ipod, Barack Obama said he was listening to Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne is notorious for the use of the homophobic phrase "no homo" in his lyrics and videos. Its use reinforces stereotypes about gay people and encourages young male listeners to engage in bullying and harassment which is a major cause of both violence against gay youth and their suicides. Given the rash of gay suicides, it is outrageous that the President would be endorsing such a homophobic "entertainer". He owes our community and the family of these kids an apology. And he needs to be setting a better example for children everywhere, including his own daughters.
Posted by: gaylib | Oct 1, 2010 12:09:44 PM
Much of this can be blamed on the right wing, the Republican party and SOME religions...when it comes to gays, they promote hate:
NO on DADT
NO on DOMA
NO on the Matthew Shepard Act
Which party/President wanted to add an admendment to the U.S. Constitution outlawing Gay marriage? The Republican Party and GWB
Anything dealing with gay rights, they put a stop to! They are the haters, they have blood on their hands and it's oozing!!!!
Posted by: CB | Oct 1, 2010 12:23:33 PM
GAYLIB: it's no surprise Obama listens to Lil Wayne because he too is a HOMOPHOBE.
Posted by: FunMe | Oct 1, 2010 12:23:49 PM
Every time I see your screenname, Gaylib, I roll my eyes so hard they stick to the back of my head. You're beyond silly. You're like an activist in the 5th grade student council whose pressing issue of the day is Pizza Fridays.
There are puh-lenty of reasons to be angry at Obama without resorting to what Reggie Love loaded onto his iPod.
Posted by: crispy | Oct 1, 2010 12:33:32 PM
College is the new high school.
Posted by: Name2 | Oct 1, 2010 12:38:16 PM
hopefully the gays on his campus make his remaining uni days a living hell
Posted by: neverstops | Oct 1, 2010 12:46:04 PM
Boy this douchebag picked the wrong week to be homophobic on a college campus!
Posted by: Gregoire | Oct 1, 2010 12:46:28 PM
It takes an Olympic-sized leap to go from some young homophobe leaving hate notes on another student's door to President Obama owing everyone an apology for listening to Lil Wayne. Do I owe myself an apology because I've liked hearing Eminem on the radio?
I'm guessing this young thug would've been homophobic even if Obama were listening only to Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper.
Posted by: Ernie | Oct 1, 2010 12:55:13 PM
Sounds like if ANYONE needs to leave the hall, it's THAT dick-crazed student. Only a fag would go looking up penis pictures and tacking them up like a pervert nympho.
I'd have him charged as a sex offender just for that. Families visits students in their dorms, too.
Posted by: Scott | Oct 1, 2010 1:03:55 PM
Crispy, you can roll your eyes all the way up your ass for all I care. If you take homophobia, in ANY form, lightly, or give someone a pass, YOU are part of the problem. If you and others who go through life with blinders on spent half the time fighting ALONGSIDE your community as you did railing AGAINST us, maybe we would get somewhere. And if you don't like what I'm writing, roll your eyes right on down to the next comment.
Posted by: gaylib | Oct 1, 2010 1:10:25 PM
when I come across a religious wackjob railing agiainst gays...I tellm this:
In Our Galaxy with 100's of Billions of Stars/Suns/Planets....which is 100,000 light yrs across..in the known Universe there are 100's of Billions of Galaxies...No Sky God,He/She/It/Entity..gives a ratz behind about us humans and what "we do" with our Human Private parts (hoo-hoos and Pee-pees)...we are NOT that Important in the Scheme and vastness if the Universe.....we are but a mere spec in the grand scale of the Universe....God is a "man-made" concept to keep the Sheeple / people in line....in Fear, and the coffers full $$$$..thats where Human Greed and Power come in...
Posted by: Disgusted American | Oct 1, 2010 1:13:09 PM
Maybe every self-loving, take no bullshit, intelligent gay should go visit every college/university within a 50 mile radius and sit in at one of the gay clubs/alliances, to let them know they're not alone.
Just a thought..
Posted by: Hollywood, CA | Oct 1, 2010 1:17:23 PM
"I'm guessing this young thug would've been homophobic even if Obama were listening only to Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper."
Maybe, but when the President of the United States suggests that it is OK or cool to denigrate and dehumanize people because they are gay, it has an impact. It legitimizes homophobia, and its coming from the most powerful man in the world. If that doesn't bother you, there's something wrong with you. What is it about Obama that has some of you so entranced? Any other straight guy dissing gays left and right and you all'd be up in arms, but Obama gets a pass. Can you explain it to me, cuz I'd love to know his secret.
Posted by: gaylib | Oct 1, 2010 1:19:44 PM
Oh, sweetie, I assure you I am not part of your "community." I don't live in a dusty coop full of retarded chickens cluck cluck clucking all over the yard looking to get offended every time a cow farts.
I'll be over here with the adults actually working on real issues.
Posted by: crispy | Oct 1, 2010 1:20:49 PM
His Facebook page says he's into Lady Gaga. Hmmm.
Posted by: Jason Paris | Oct 1, 2010 1:48:34 PM
Stay classy, heterosexuals.
ALWAYS stay classy!
Posted by: Bill | Oct 1, 2010 2:19:05 PM
Weird. I'd forgotten a time in college when some friends and I taped gay porn all over the dorm of some young morons who'd formed a "gang" (for lack of a better word; it was a very traditional, elitist school) and somehow got interviewed by the school paper and other sources, and constantly crowed about how straight they were. We added notes saying how gay they were.
We even got caught doing it by an RA, and she said she was going to ignore it because she agreed they were highly noxious. In retrospect it was not the most mature thing to do, but we never heard anything about them again.
Posted by: Paul R | Oct 1, 2010 3:15:26 PM
@Gaylib: I don't give Obama a pass on his failure to fulfill his campaign promises. I just don't think this incident has anything to do with him. I'm sure you'd like us all to loathe Obama as virulently as you do, but I don't hold him personally responsible for every homophobic incident in the world. Shockingly, I believe that 19-year-olds who make homophobic threats are responsible for their own actions.
Posted by: Ernie | Oct 1, 2010 4:16:19 PM
Despite reading many many books on spirituality and peace, I'm a believer in two wrongs make a right. Regretfully, the only way people learn is to have the same thing done to them. People can talk all the love, forgiveness, and BS they want, but people should just HOUND this dude until succumbs on his knees. *uck him!
Posted by: Fight Fight Figh | Oct 1, 2010 7:05:09 PM
I don't usually take sides in an argument, but there does seem to be a double standard here. When Bantu (sp?), the Jamaican singer, puts out anti-gay lyrics we're all about boycotts and shutting down his concerts, and I doubt anyone here would support his listeners. But a jailed Li'l Wayne who basically does the same thing is excused to a certain degree because we support Obama more than we support those who listen to Bantu? That, from a logical viewpoint, is double-speak. Why give Obama a pass when we certainly wouldn't give the audience at a homophobic-laced concert the same pass? Any thoughts or explanations? I'm just analyzing the argument, and not trying to take sides. . .honest.
Posted by: Keith | Oct 1, 2010 11:33:40 PM
@Keith: I have no problem with people criticizing or boycotting Lil Wayne for his homophobic lyrics or even saying to Obama, Yo, dude, did you hear what that jailed homophone is saying in your iPod? I just think it's simplistic and moronic to directly tie homophobic threats on a dorm door to the President's playlist, when there are so many more valid examples of how homophobia reaches young people in our society. It's not always about Obama, except to those (i.e. Gaylib) who make a career out of loathing the President. A 19-year-old homophobe is responsible for his own actions.
Posted by: Ernie | Oct 2, 2010 11:21:05 AM
Since you seem genuinely interested, Keith, I encourage to find and read the Rolling Stone interview for yourself. Don't take Gaylib at face value because he mostly made up everything he posted about it.
Obama did not remotely say "I love Lil Wayne" which is the title of Gaylib's post at his nauseatingly amateurish blog... that should be your first clue that Gaylib has a personal vendetta not based in actual facts and is not someone who can be taken seriously.
What Obama actually said is that there are 2,000 songs on his iPod, most of which are oldies, standards, and R&B tracks. Gaylib ignores all of this including the fact that Obama specifically says he enjoys listening to progressives like Boy Dylan. As for Lil Wayne, Obama clearly states that his infamous personal aide Reggie Long uploads hip-hop tracks for him, and it's been reported multiple times in the media that Long attempts to influence the president to try hip-hop. Not once does Obama say he's ever listened to Lil Wayne, much less that he enjoys or "loves" it.
As I stated previously, there are many legitimate reasons to be angry at Obama. But we should at least try to be reasonable about it... so we don't come off looking like faux-outraged douchenozzles like Gaylib.
Posted by: crispy | Oct 2, 2010 11:57:37 AM