You Are Loved

On Sunday evening at 9pm, I headed over to Washington Square Park to attend the "You Are Loved" Glowstick Vigil hosted by NYU's GLBTQA student leaders and Delta Lambda Phi. The vigil was to honor and remember the six gay teens who committed suicide as a result of homophobic bullying:

Asher Brown, age 13
Seth Walsh, age 13
Billy Lucas, age 15
Justin Aaberg, age 15
Tyler Clementi, age 18
Raymond Chase, age 19


I attended the vigil by myself but there were so many people there it was hard to feel alone. There were all different types of people there: gay, straight, different ages, different races and different ethnicities. We all met under the arch in the park. There were people with posters and banners urging the bullying to stop, people with guitars singing songs about love and student volunteers handing out glowsticks to everyone (candles were not permitted). I was sitting on a park ledge waiting for the vigil to begin and was given a flyer about the evening. The man sitting next to me turned out to be a tourist who didn't know what was going on in the park. The student volunteer explained to him what everyone was doing there and asked if he would like a glowstick to participate. The tourist replied "Actually, yes. I'm really glad I was sitting here!" That was really cool to see.


The Arch in Washington Square Park

Shortly after 9:00pm as the rain began to fall, the vigil began. One of the first speakers was openly gay New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. She shared many words of hope for the future and words of comfort for any young person hurting for the same reasons as these young men. Next up was a speaker that surprised all of us as many gasps were heard when he took the bullhorn: New York Governor David Patterson. Though I live in New York, I honestly don't know much about Gov. Patterson aside from the fact that he's not so popular among New York residents. You couldn't tell that on Sunday night, though! He received many cheers as he spoke about bringing ideas for new legislation back to Albany. Governor Patterson also spoke about his own experiences with being bullied. After the speakers were finished the names of the teens were read. As their names were read, a volunteer lifted a poster with their picture so everyone could see each young man.


Once all the names were read we were instructed to lift our glowsticks in the air. Amongst a rainbow of colors we observed a moment of silence. To end the silence, Cheyenne Jackson led the crowd in singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." It was a beautiful, heartfelt rendition lifted up by the crowd. We all received a phone number to share with anyone who mentioned they were thinking of suicide: 866-4-U-Trevor (866.488.7386). To end the evening we were all asked to chalk a message of love in the park in hopes that everyone out there feeling afraid, hopeless and alone would feel some love, hope and friendship in the messages. This is such an important issue. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. It's a hard topic to deal with. Don't turn the channel when it comes on the news. Educate yourself. Be an advocate for anti-bullying. Watch out for others and stand up for someone having trouble standing up for themself. Be a friend. If you're feeling alone please know that just the way you are.... YOU ARE LOVED!!!