JMU community members protest Liz Wheeler event, celebrate LGBTQ+ community

from PROTESTS, page 1

“If we lose that hope, then we’ve lost the battle,” Alleyne said. She said she attended this event to offer her body and support through her words.

Shortly after Alleyne’s reading, sophomore Mason Vales performed in full drag with the stage name “Climaxx” to kick off the event. Vales said he’d never seen this number of “gay people” in one place, and said it was insane to him, but also pleasing to see.

Vales was one of the 10-plus speakers to speak at this event, with all voicing their support for the transgender community.

“There’s gonna be people here that are willing to be your friend — no matter who you are,” Vales said.

Dueñas said it’s important to make sure everyone knows they have a community at JMU, and said this event provided a space for transgender individuals to have their voice heard.

Tim Miller, JMU vice president for student affairs, was in attendance and said JMU’s role Wednesday was to make sure all students had an opportunity to share their voice safely at Dukes for Pride and others. He said he’s proud of the students who put this on and glad the event had such a large turnout.

Miller said the Liz Wheeler lecture and Dukes for Pride were both coordinated by organizations at JMU, not the school itself.

The challenge of free speech is at the heart of America currently, Miller said, and also said Americans live in a difficult environment where people are challenging each other with their words and deeds.

However, a consensus formed among attendees that JMU should do more to support the LGBTQ+ community.

Junior Jo Buckley said they wish the LGBTQ+ community “could do more” to oppose Liz Wheeler’s lecture because they feel students are limited in what JMU allows them to do.

“Liz Wheeler being invited feels very nasty and true color-ish of JMU,” Buckley said. “They can say that they protect LGBTQ as much as they want, but this just shows that they really just don’t care.”

After all the speakers finished at Wilson Hall, the crowd walked over to the Festival lawn to continue showcasing their support. Hundreds of people walked together, waving their flags in the air and chanting things like, “We are here, we are queer.”

Senior Allison Mohar said people should care about transgender rights because transgender people exist at JMU.

“Even if you don’t really recognize it, they’re here,” Mohar said. “[They’re] part of the community, so we need to uplift our whole community.”

Chris Gordon, newly elected president of JMU college democrats, said he was proud of the JMU community for “rallying against Wheeler’s hatred” and hoped the protest will turn the lecture into “a positive experience for our community.” During the protest, Gordon held a sign reading, “Stop spending my tuition on fascism and hate.”

Gordon said it’s vital for allies to organize, learn and support each other to make sure tuition dollars aren’t spent on “a person like Wheeler.”

“There’s an aspect of allowing freedom of speech, especially in [a] public university, we all love freedom of speech,” Gordon said. “It’s a part of being American. The problem is using our money from our community, from the queer community on campus, to pay her and support her coming — whether they want to or not.”

Junior Hannah Peters, another crowd member, said Wheeler’s beliefs established in her podcast and previous public appearances are “very harmful” to JMU’s transgender community. She said the support offered by protesters was designated for the LGBTQ+ community, not Wheeler.

One of the many speakers said they were touched by the gathering and subsequent protests, but “dehumanizing rhetoric” such as Wheeler’s will lead to “trans individuals being criminalized.”

On the Festival lawn, open-mic speakers took turns voicing their support for the queer community. Not only did JMU students speak in front of the crowd but also community members, supporters and local high school students.

Miller said “challenging moments” are going to happen more and more around JMU’s campus and across the country, and said he hopes JMU can learn how to go about these moments and show other communities how to do the same.

“I’m very proud of the community at large, and I’m so happy with the turnout,” Dueñas said. “We’re not going to stop here.”

CONTACT K. Mauser at mauserkk@dukes. jmu.edu, Abby Chamot at chamotar@dukes. jmu.edu and Gretchen Nagle at naglegm@ dukes.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.