Grand Forks, ND (AP) — A gay man believes his outfit of metallic red shorts and a tank top triggered what he said was an assault and homophobic taunting during a weekend incident at a University of North Dakota fraternity house that police are investigating.
Haakon Gisvold, 18, said Sept. 8 he was called anti-gay slurs, choked and stripped down Sept. 6 while attending a party at the Lambda Chi Alpha house in Grand Forks. The fraternity chapter has been placed on limited operations as the University of North Dakota and Grand Forks police departments investigate.
Gisvold said he attended the party with a friend and spent at least an hour there before a member of the fraternity asked him to leave because of what he was wearing.
“I said `Look at these girls. They’re wearing short clothes, too. I don’t see what the big deal is,'” said Gisvold, adding that he then heard homophobic slurs.
He said a man pushed him to the ground and they fought, then four other men confronted him, took his clothes off and choked him. Someone called police and the crowd scattered, including Gisvold, who said he hid behind a bush in his underwear until a Good Samaritan gave him clothes.
Gisvold said his father notified police and investigators contacted him. The University of North Dakota Police Department declined to provide details of the incident to the AP, citing its ongoing investigation.
Lambda Chi Alpha’s national headquarters in Indianapolis restricted UND’s Epsilon-Zeta chapter from all formal activities on Wednesday.
“We take this alleged incident extremely seriously, and although there isn’t any sufficient information to support the claims, we are working in partnership with the university and local law enforcement to ensure an immediate and thorough investigation is completed,” Nick Zuniga, the national fraternity’s director of chapter services, said in a statement.
