Many of you have probably witnessed the small group of Christian individuals who have been preaching their beliefs at the Memorial Union Quad Area in front of the CoHo this week. While members of the Davis community frequently use campus as a platform for spreading ideas, this particular group is gaining attention and backlash due to the hateful and intolerant nature of their language.
Their topics of conversation have ranged from abortion and women’s rights to homosexuality and racism and have become, at the very least, controversial. Most would say that the Christian protesters were extremely offensive in their behavior, and many students were personally attacked for being openly gay, wearing “indecent clothing,” and even for the color of their skin.
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Outrage broke out on Tuesday when several members of the UCD LGBTQIA community decided to speak up against the protesters. Claiming that women have the right to control their bodies, that everyone has the right to feel safe in declaring their sexuality, and that Latinos and African Americans should not be subjected to inaccurate stereotyping, the several individuals defiantly stood up for the minority groups being attacked. These proclamations received countless cheers of support from bystanders. Due to the growing numbers of people watching, the police were called and arrived on campus about an hour and a half after the Christian group began preaching. I spoke with several officers who explained that although hateful and intolerant, the group’s actions fell under free speech and that unless it turned violent, there was nothing they could do to make them stop.
I personally struggled with this–– UCD is intended to be a safe campus for all students. We cannot, however, immediately change current legislation and our most powerful tool in combating bigotry lies in where we spend our time. The past few days have also hosted several powerful and impactful events that deserve our attention.
Several female students, as part of a Drama class presentation, performed a demonstration on the Quad that centered around fighting back against slur words and slut shaming. Dressed in their underwear and bras, each girl was painted with several words representing common societal insults that people face every day including “whore," “tranny,” and many more. The end of the demonstration involved washing off these hurtful slurs and returning to a sense of pride and confidence.
On Wednesday night, Davis hosted presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in one of his final rallies before the June 7th primary. He called for action regarding affordable healthcare, elimination of sexism and racism in the workplace, and a comprehensive plan to begin solving the climate crisis. Over 9,000 people attended the rally and stood in solidarity against hatred and intolerance.
On Thursday afternoon, members of the LGBTQUIA community and their allies hosted a “Tampon Tea Party,” to protest the tax on tampons. They argue that tampons and other feminine hygiene products should not be considered or taxed as a luxury and that women should not have to pay more for something they cannot biologically control.
While the world harbors a great deal of ignorance and malice and while we have seen such here on campus, UC Davis students are working toward a brighter future. There are countless others ways in which we can spend our time besides giving attention to those who put down our brothers and sisters. We support and collaborate with each other despite racial, economic, gender, or sexual identity differences, and we are united by our passion for education and our desire for a hate free world.
I’m proud to attend this university and am overjoyed at the amount of support and love the Aggies are demonstrating in response to these verbal attacks.
