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GLBT receives hate messages
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor GLBT coordinator Sheri Atkinson and member Trace Ludewig stand in front of support notes responding to the hate messages received by Ludewig and the organization last week.
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When Trace Ludewig received a phone call from someone claiming to be "Miss Cleo" two weeks ago, he thought one of his friends was playing a joke on him.
After all, "Miss Cleo" knew many things about him. Subsequent conversations with the friends he suspected proved otherwise.
Earlier that morning, Ludewig, a sophomore SCSU student, saw the word "die" written on the whiteboard he keeps on the door of his room in one of the residence halls on campus. But he didn't give it much thought.
About 1 p.m., Ludewig received the first call from "Miss Cleo." The caller also talked to some of Ludewig's friends who were with him that day. Awhile later, the same person called again.
"I thought it was one of my friends playing a joke on me," Ludewig said, "so I called some of them but they said 'no.'"
Ludewig suspected something amiss and this was confirmed when another person called not long after that. The man began asking questions like "Who is your dad?" and "What does he do?" to which Ludewig refused to answer.
Later on, the same man called again, shouting that Ludewig had cost him $6,000. He used vulgar language and called Ludewig a "fairy."
"I told him to hang up or I would call the police," Ludewig said. "He didn't, so I called the police and filed a report."
He also filed a report with the Public Safety Department. That was the end of the abusive phone calls to Ludewig's room, but not for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Services office in Atwood Memorial Center.
On April 2, the GLBT Services peer support line received a call from a man who claimed his five-year-old child had picked up a copy of the Lavender magazine. The magazine caters to the GLBT community. In a voice mail message, which included explicit language, the caller told the GLBT Services office members to keep their "fag magazine" to themselves.
If that wasn't enough, when Ludewig checked the office's suggestion box, he found many abusive messages inside. Among these were messages like: "Die fags," "GAY - Got AIDS Yet," "AIDS - Anally Infected Death Sentence" and "Welcome to Stewards Deli, at 12:45 a.m., we allow gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Gay-bashing starts at 12:45 a.m."
The next day, a copy of the Lavender magazine was found outside the office with the words "Not even God likes fags" scrawled on it.
"We also would receive phone calls," Ludewig said. "They would say 'sorry, wrong number,' but before they hung up, they would say 'goodbye fags.'"
All the messages were handed over to PSD when a report was filed, but copies of them were made and these are now being used to turn a bad situation into a good one. GLBT Services is now using those messages as part of their Safe Space training.
Safe Space training is something that GLBT offers for university organizations. It teaches people how to provide a safe environment for GLBT community members. The office conducts four regular Safe Space training sessions a year, but also runs the program whenever requested by campus organizations. They usually end up doing hundreds every year.
Sheri Atkinson, GLBT Services coordinator, sent out an e-mail earlier this week on the SCSU e-mail listserve. She received many in return, all showing their support for GLBT Services.
"(Ludewig) made a sign (that says) 'hate is not welcome here' and we have about 25 e-mails (showing support) on it," Atkinson said. The e-mails came from both faculty and staff and the sign is posted on the office's front door.
Students, too, are showing their support for GLBT Services by wearing "Ally" buttons. An ally, as the word implies, is someone who supports the GLBT community. Even SCSU President Roy Saigo has reportedly been spotted wearing an "Ally" button.
"The climate (on campus) overall is supportive," Atkinson said. "A lot of people are vocalizing their support now (after the phone calls and messages). They realize that these sort of negative things happen and they need to come out with their support."
Leslie Andres can be reached at: [email protected]
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