This was a magical moment that happened like a grassroots movement and for an hour in West Hartford, the world stood still. And hand in hand, we defeated hate.
Even in a time before Facebook and Twitter were a part of our lives and breaking news wasn’t readily available on demand as it is today, the University of Hartford has always stood as a place of inclusion, diversity, and community. In early spring 2003, a group of students decided that hate was not a Hartford value and something needed to be done.
Spectrum is and was a place for all students to feel comfortable and have a safe place at the University. We prided ourselves on making sure that all students who were a part of the organization felt comfortable to be themselves in a safe, nonjudgmental environment for people of all sexual and gender identities. Spectrum is an organization for bisexual, pansexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, asexual, questioning students and their allies. I had the honor of overseeing this organization for three years during my undergrad years. However, in April 2003, all of our members had a very different experience.
Throughout my years, we held a variety of programs and events that brought the University community together. Rainbowfest was always the highlight of our year! The week had a number of events that led up to a huge dance party celebration of inclusion and diversity. Our events in 2002 included “Moulin Rouge” and “Road Rules,” which were conversations with MTV’s queer cast members of Real World and Road Rules. These events were some of our largest and most successful events, and were awarded the best programming events by the student government that year.
So, 2003 had a lot to live up to; however, none of our group members would imagine what was in store for us. On April 8, 2003, on a typical Tuesday morning in Gengras, I went to check our organizational mail and the Student Government Association (SGA) secretary called me to her desk and handed me a fax that she received. I looked at the fax and stood there in shock. She quickly rushed me into the conference room and sat me down. She looked me in the eyes and said, “This is nothing, this is an attack to scare you.” The fax we received was a press release that said there would be a protest against the University of Hartford and our organization because of support of LGBTQIA students. The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) was coming to protest and justify that “God Hates Fags.” Apparently, they were drawn to Connecticut by a proposal that would have extended essentially all the rights of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. However, a legislative committee voted down the measure before the protests.
Immediately, there was a call to action. Our group members had our weekly meeting that day and, surprisingly, there was an overwhelming response to not react to this and ignore the threat of a protest. Later that day, however, during the week’s student government meeting, several of us took to the floor and announced that Spectrum as an organization would and could not let this information stay silent and we needed to let the University community know what had happened. There was an immediate change in comfortability in the meeting room and everyone was a bit unsure. Almost immediately, with BSU, CASA, and NHU senators and leaders alongside us, we were supported in that there should be a counter-protest towards this “church” that, for lack of a better term, hated us, our University, and our students. With overwhelming support from the SGA senators, we knew that April 14, 2003 would be a moment that would be forever ingrained in the minds of so many students.
Leading up to that Monday morning, the “congregation” of the WBC went to protest churches in Hartford and Southington on Palm Sunday. The signs they carried used epithets to proclaim God hates homosexuals. Their signs also said "God Hates America" and "Thank God for Sept. 11," a reference to the protesters' belief that Sept. 11 was some sort of judgment. These protesters were led by Fred Phelps, who gained national notoriety for shouting anti-gay epithets during the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the Wyoming college student who was beaten to death in 1998 because he was gay. However, Phelps was too busy to join the protest in Connecticut, so he cowardly sent his daughter, Shirley Phelps Roper, and three of her sons—Zachariah, 12, Isaiah, 14, and Gabriel, 8. The children held anti-gay signs, including one that read, "Matt—4 years in Hell."
The morning of April 14 was unseasonably warmer than usual, the sun was shining and it felt like this morning would be like no others. It was about 7 a.m. when the students started leaving their dorms and headed to the front entrance on Bloomfield Avenue. Around 7:30 a.m. a large black van pulled up in front of the Watkinson School and the protest began. The number of students that showed up was a clear indication to the congregation of WBC that they had chosen the wrong University to play with! Students from so many different parts of the University that showed up in solidarity—the Greeks, the nerds, the athletes, men, women, straight, gay, closeted, out, religious, and agnostic.
So many of our clubs and organizations members showed up without hesitation or influence. We chanted and cheered, danced and sang. This was a magical moment that happened like a grassroots movement and for an hour in West Hartford, the world stood still. And hand in hand, we defeated hate.