LGBT community gathers for candlelight vigil

Due to strong winds, the LGBT candlelight vigil "Light the Way," on Tuesday had to switch from candles to glow sticks. (Jenna Beaver)

Updated: Nov. 16, 2010

A candlelight vigil was held in support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community Tuesday evening in front of the clock tower. About 40 people showed up despite the harsh wind and cold, which turned the candlelight vigil into a glow stick vigil.

“Light the Way” was organized by GMU professor Emily Ihara and students in her Social Work "Social Determinants of Health" class in an effort to gain awareness for the LGBT community’s needs for social support from everyone, as well as to show that there are organizations available for extra support. Two speakers, as well special performances from the Mason group Love Her Fiercely were a part of the event.

LGBT is the third highest group targeted for hate crime. According to a LGBT flyer, “LGBT youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts.” Tyler Clementi and Asher Brown are two recent examples of homosexuals who committed suicide due to harassment over their sexuality.

Phil Hicks, Vice President of the Washington, D.C. chapter of Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG), argued that a person’s parents are their most important source of support.

In Hicks’ view people should not be afraid to tell their parents that they have fallen in love or have had their heart broken. You have to make parents supportive when you “come out,” Hicks added. If someone lacks support from their peers or family, then there are support groups that can “move hateful people with hateful minds to understanding,” says Hicks.

Alex McPherson, a local high school senior, added a personal testimony about her own experience coming out. When McPherson announced her bisexuality on Facebook almost all of her friends and family were supportive. It hasn’t been all that easy, however, says McPherson who added that society as a whole has made her feel that it isn’t normal to be homosexual. It’s difficult when you live in a place where people think that “what you are is wrong, and you don’t fit in with everyone else,” says McPherson.

After coming out McPherson was “dragged” into an LBGT meeting which turned out to be one of the most significant experiences of her life; she found a community that was “never hateful or mean.” According to McPherson, “all they’re there to do is share the love.”

Aleksandra Melnikova, a junior at Mason who attended “Light The Way,” said that “events like these show us that we need to appreciate those around us,” and that it helps raise awareness of the many support groups available to those in the LBGT community.

Towards the end of the event the glow sticks were connected in a circle to represent the alliance of support for LBGT.