Gay Rights Activists Protest Flyers at CSUN

Cal State Northridge gay rights activists protested Wednesday against campus flyers calling for attacks on homosexuals, setting off a shouting, spitting confrontation with other students.

Members of SQUISH--Strong Queers United in Stopping Heterosexism--staged a “die-in,” drawing chalk outlines of their bodies on a campus sidewalk to protest the anonymous flyers, which offered free baseball bats for “gay bashing and clubbing.” The chalk outlines were meant to remind onlookers that deaths could result from the violence the flyers urged, the protesters said.

The series of confrontations and arguments that followed lasted more than two hours and drew about 150 students to the campus center before they were dispersed by a dean and campus police.

The confrontation began about noon when four students criticized Father David Walsh of the Newman Center, a campus Roman Catholic institution, for joining the “die-in,” arguing with him that as a priest he should not be supporting what they called unnatural conduct. The students were “yelling and screaming” at him, said the priest, who said he was not defending homosexuality but protesting against hate.

SQUISH member Mat Rodieck said he had a heated argument with the students. They left, but returned later and spat on one of the chalk outlines.

“You want to write; that’s your choice,” one of the students told SQUISH members as the crowd swelled around the contenders. “But I can spit where I choose to spit.”

“You’re spitting on our free speech,” Rodieck replied.

“I just let them know that queers are strange,” the student, who identified himself only as a 23-year-old senior majoring in psychology, told a reporter.

As the crowd became more volatile, a campus police officer called for reinforcements, campus Police Sgt. Steve Johnston said. About the same time, an erroneous rumor of a riot circulated through campus, said Dean of Students Fred Strache.

Four officers and Strache responded.

“OK, everybody, party’s over. Let’s get back to class,” Johnston said as he walked through the crowd, which did not fully disperse for more than an hour as students continued to gather in the campus center to argue over gay rights.

Johnston said police would take reports from SQUISH members who said they were threatened, but no complaints had been filed Wednesday night. Rodieck said no members were physically harmed.

The origin of the flyers remained unknown. SQUISH scheduled a news conference today to respond to statements by campus Police Lt. Mark Hissong that the group might have printed the flyers itself as a publicity stunt.

A SQUISH statement called the speculation “outrageous,” complaining the group was “under attack from the very individuals sworn to protect us.” Hissong said in reply that he had expressed “one of many possibilities” and that nothing would interfere with the department’s obligation to protect everyone on the campus.