CSUS custodian Ray Yager cleans off defaced chalk messages in the Library quad. The messages originally supported Sunday's National Coming Out Day and were placed by Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Alliance of Sacramento. An anonymous student scrawled derogatory and vulgar replacements to the messages early Tuesday morning and called the State Hornet to claim responsibility. Dominick Porras/State Hornet

Erase the hate

Anti-gay message in Library quad stuns CSUS students

The campus community was shocked Tuesday morning by the anti-gay messages scrawled across the Library quad.

The graffiti defaced messages placed Sunday evening in support of National Coming Out Day, by the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Sacramento, a student organization at CSUS.

"We sent these messages to welcome gay and lesbian students, especially the new ones," said sophomore Lance Demello, a Communication Studies major and president of BGLAS.

Monday night, or early Tuesday morning, an anonymous student scribbled out the original BGLAS messages, such as "Hate is not a family value," with "Butt-f------ is not a family value."

A man called the State Hornet to claim responsibility and issued a statement. He said he was a CSUS student but would not give his name.

"The homosexual consciousness is a hellish consciousness. If they choose to live such a life, so be it, we all have freedom to make choices. But don't bring others to Hell with you.

"Murder, child molestation and homosexuality are all acts of choice and if we want a sane and safe life, we must discriminate and choose what is right. This is morality," he said.

In a second telephone call to the State Hornet Tuesday afternoon the anonymous student said he used some of the anti-gay language he did to, "get into their hearts."

"There's a lot of sad, lost people and they're saying, 'come join our group.' It's a sick lifestyle," he said.

Lou Camera, director of Student Activities said the university wanted to find out who the student was, but not to prosecute him.

"I would very much like to talk with the person to let him know about appropriate avenues of discussion," Camera said.

Most of the messages, both BGLAS' original chalking and the anonymous student's overlaid script were removed by order of Camera this morning. He said he ordered the removal of the chalking since the event BGLAS was supporting was over and the offending messages were counter to the message BGLAS had originally posted.

ASI President Gary Davis said everyone he talked to felt the messages were offensive. But

(From left) Lou Camera, Lance Demello, and Leonard Valdez react to what they termed "hate speech" at Tuesday afternoon's news conference held in the Multi-Cultural Center. Camera said the messages were not illegal, but were a bad choice on the part of the anonymous student. Nathan L. Walls/State Hornet

Davis said he supported the free speech principle involved and was torn about the removal of the messages.

"I'm going to my deathbed believing in freedom of speech, but I think it reached a point were it was harmful," Davis said.

In response, Davis said he is going to consider proposing the campus adopt a Chico State and Hyde Park style free speech area, with an open mike. "We can air our views publicly, and say what's on our minds," he said.

Leonard Valdez, director of the Multi-Cultural Center, read a prepared statement at a 2 p.m. news conference with Demello, Camera, Jeff Harrelson from Associated Students Inc., and Otis Scott, ethnic studies chair.

"As community leaders we are gathered here to say that hate is not limited to the gay and lesbian community. It trancends orientation and ethnic boundaries and is of concern to all. If allowed to fester, intolerance will grow and affect the entire community. That is why we stand here, united to say 'Erase the Hate,'" he said.

Valdez, Camera, and university spokeswoman Ann Reed said they did not consider the messages a hate crime, and said the anonymous student had the right to speak his mind, but all disagreed with the manner and tone of the messages.

Finding the student is not a top priority of the university said Scott.

"If anything, I feel good for our students saying our campus will not tolerate this," Camera said.

Jennifer Coleman contributed to this report.