The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at Cal Sate Long Beach begins its annual Diversity Week with a forum on hate speech and crimes today.
The event, called Campus Forum on Hate Speech, Hate Crimes and Far Right Movements, begins at 11 a.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m. in the Beach Auditorium. Five panelists will be speaking and responding to questions and comments about hate and far-right movements aimed at the LGBT community.
Kirstyn Chun, faculty adviser at the LGBT Resource Center, said via e-mail, “We appreciate the opportunity to stand in solidarity against racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism and anti-immigration rhetoric with other members of the campus community. We hope this event will provide a safe space in which to openly discuss difficult issues that affect all of us.”
The co-director of today’s forum, Jeffrey Blutinger from the Jewish studies department, said via e-mail, “The hate crime forum builds off of several recent events that have occurred in Southern California in recent times. This includes the upsurge in violence against immigrants and Muslims since 9/11, the murder of a transgendered student in Ventura just this February, the presence of the world headquarters of Holocaust denial just down the road in Tustin, and white ethnocentrism here on campus.”
Blutinger said that the idea for the forum stemmed from the visit of Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist last semester and gained further strength after The President’s Forum on International Human Rights earlier in February.
“The purpose of the forum is to raise awareness of the multiple hate groups here in Southern California, and the hate violence that many of us have to live with. Our goal is to educate students and faculty about the problems we face and encourage them to take a stand for tolerance,” Blutinger said.
CSULB President F. King Alexander said in a statement that he is supportive of the campus forum on hate speech and hate crimes, and is glad to be on a campus where a discussion of its kind takes place.
Kevin O’Grady from the Anti-Defamation League will also be part of the forum today. O’Grady said via e-mail, “I think it is important to distinguish between hate speech, which is allowed by constitutional protection, and hate crimes, which are forbidden by state and federal statue.”
Due to the controversy around this forum, officers from the University Police will be present, said Interim Chief of Police Stan Skipworth.
Other panelists include Randy Blazak from the Hate Crimes Research Network, Brian Chase from Lambda Legal, and Nativo Lopez from the Mexican American Political Association.
