On Monday, vandals defaced the office of the Lambda Law Students Association at the Boston College Law School (BCLS), scribbling homophobic phrases across a large wall.
Among the juvenile scrawl written in giant letters were lovely phrases like “cock gobbler,” “muff diving” and “bean fucker.” (We’re not even sure what that means.)
According to the blog Above the Law, the perpetrator(s) may not have been students at the law school:
BC Law shares its campus with a number of freshman dorms. This isn’t the first time in the history of BCLS that freshmen have vandalized the law school. This seems to indicate a systemic issue that the undergraduate body has with racism and homophobia, as opposed to a reflection on the law school’s students or administration.
I have never encountered anything but openness and acceptance at BCLS and refuse to believe that this recent incident was committed by a member of our community.
In a letter to students, BCLS Dean Vincent Rougeau indicated the graffiti was just the latest of several acts of vandalism at the school. He called the incident “reprehensible” and said the school was working with Newton Police to find the culprits.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Hmm, does BCLS have a Young Republicans Club?
For its part, Lambda Law doesn’t want to just whitewash the offending tags:
We have asked the administration to not remove the hateful graffiti yet; instead, we are holding a meeting to solicit ideas about how we can turn this into a positive thing for BC Law and the LGBT members of Lambda Law.
One of the ideas we have already been given is to use the words as a backdrop for a dedication to the gay rights movement: posting articles, pictures, and quotes on top of [the graffiti] that show our fight for equal rights, from Stonewall to the President’s historic inclusion of gay rights in his inauguration speech, to show where we have come from and yet how far we still have to go.
Sohobod
The graffiti looks ‘unhurried’ and rather neatly spaced. Sure it’s not an inside job?
matt1213
I think the wall says “bean flicker” not “bean fucker” which makes a little more sense…yet still so childish and hate filled.
Cheers to them for turning around and making it a positive.
Dawster
I the vandal’s point was lost on the fact they successfully wrote out the most popular categories found in gay/lesbian porn…
Thomathy
Well, that settles it. They didn’t overwrite their own graffiti and no vandals ever write so clearly.
Considering it’s rather more likely that the intent was malicious, it would be distracting to consider it as having been done by someone inside. It seems more reasonable to presume an ‘outside’ job until that avenue is exhausted.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Aside from “gay bukkake” all those phrases apply to hets just as much as queers.
Merv
Perhaps John Silber isn’t really dead.
Joetx
Well, BC was ranked #13 in last year’s edition of Princeton Review’s Most Homophobic Colleges list.
hyhybt
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Even there, the need to add the word “gay”…
I’ve heard “bean” used to mean “head” occasionally, which might make that a reference to oral sex… but the phrasing doesn’t fit with the rest.
ericsf11
I graduated from BC Law. The BC Law campus is located several miles, and world’s away, from the rest of Boston College. There are freshman dorms on the law school campus, however. BC Law is nothing like Boston College. The law school is very liberal and progressive and far more Jewish than Jesuit. Trust me…the law school administration will be all over this. The idiot kids/vandals/haters/homophobes whatever picked the wrong place to deface.
Victor_in_PA
I used to get really pissed off about stuff like this but now, with the country’s attitude changing about gay people, I welcome it. It’s easier to get rid of homophobia when you can see it. Most people are middle of the road until something like this happens and then their compassion comes out. In my opinion, events like this help us much more than hurt us. People see it and know what kind of batshit crazy people are behind it.
FStratford
BC is a Jesuit School.
I say this was an inside job.
1EqualityUSA
Cut the entire wall down and send it to Museum of Modern Art as a statement of the bigotry faced by Americans on a daily basis.