The UCLA Queer Alliance and Won Together are hosting a rally and vigil today to inform students about the high nationwide levels of suicide in the LGBT community.
Six students, ranging in age from 13 to 19, who had been identified with the LGBT community, committed suicide in September.
“What happened to those boys was a tragedy,” said Gatsby Miller, a fourth-year LGBT studies student and member of the LGBT Campus Resource Center. “We need to show people why it happened so it doesn’t continue to happen.”
A rally will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Bruin Walk, and members of the Queer Alliance will hand out fliers about LGBT-bullying in high school and on college campuses.
The vigil will take place in Bruin Plaza at 8 p.m. Speakers are still being scheduled, but other plans for the event are on the way, said Krystal Rincon, director of the Queer Alliance and fourth-year communication studies student.
Audience members will have a chance to share their stories of persecution, and a moment of silence will be held, during which candles will be lit.
Students said they hope these events will sway others to change their attitudes about LGBT students.
“We need to show solidarity at the event. This is a powerful way to begin a week of showing support for the LGBT community,” said Marcus McRae, director of internal affairs for the Queer Alliance.
Some students find themselves without a resource or community to express themselves when they first arrive on campus, and these events are meant to show students they have an outlet, Miller said.
“It shouldn’t be that (LGBT students) are four times more likely to commit suicide, it shouldn’t be that those students are nine times more likely if they come from religious families,” he said.
Miller shared his own story about coming from a household that was not comfortable with his sexuality. He said he has faced bigotry while at UCLA, including being called derogatory names and being segregated from the rest of the community.
These talks should affect both people in and outside the LGBT community, McRae said.
“For people who are already involved with Queer Alliance and other LGBT student organizations, we need to remind them that when we say we are there for them, we mean it,” McRae said.