(Logo from The RaYnbow Collective’s Facebook)
PROVO, Utah (AP) | Protesters including Brigham Young University students yelled homophobic slurs and taunted LGBTQ students and their supporters during an off campus gathering in Utah.
About 100 protesters showed up at the “Back to School Pride Night” event over the weekend at a public park in Provo. A dozen people dressed up as angels and who were supporting the LGBTQ students stood in a line to block the protesters, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Police broke up a handful of clashes between the two sides.
The confrontation happened a week after BYU banned a fan who yelled racial slurs at a Duke University volleyball player who is Black during an Aug. 26 match in Provo.
BYU apologized, but Duke player Rachel Richardson criticized school officials for not reacting quickly enough during the match. The South Carolina women’s basketball team and its coach later canceled a series against BYU over the incident.
BYU is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and does not allow clubs for queer students to meet on campus, according to the Tribune. The school also forbids same-sex romantic partnerships and displays of affection among LGBTQ students.
Maddison Tenney, founder of the RaYnbow Collective and a senior at BYU, said she became concerned when police told her to expect a large crowd of protesters at Saturday’s event, which drew about 300 supporters.
Tenney said members of her group wore angel costumes to replicate the strategy used by friends of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, after protesters shows up at the 1999 trial of two men accused in his killing.
The RaYnbow Collective posted about the incident on its Facebook page the following day, writing “We could not be more proud of each and every one of you. Thank you for showing up … There are more with us than against us. We want to thank each one of our angels, our volunteers, Provo Police for keeping us safe, and ALL OF YOU who showed up to keep us safe. We love you.”
