On Friday, October 9, a group called Open Air Outreach visited our campus. A yearly occurrence at Georgia Tech, these people travel the country going to different college campuses to promote racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and religious and other discrimination in the name of their god.
In a word, all of their arguments were completely horrible. Never have I been around such hatred and discrimination. They promoted gender stereotypes by having lists of what men and women should and should not do. A female was passing out water to students sitting in the hot sun, and the protesters identified her as "a woman in her rightful place." They declared all Muslims were jihadists. They targeted specific gay members of the crowd and yelled at them. A black man who came with them argued that he was "not actually black." They pointed, they yelled, they stomped on rainbow flags and they made us feel weak because we couldn't stop them.
Unfortunately for us, we attend a public institution, which makes it legal for this group to express their "free speech" in our amphitheater. Fortunately for us, this is Georgia Tech, where we decided to make the best of a bad situation. While we couldn't stop them, we could still fight them. Here are some of my favorite occurrences:
1. This:
2. A student legitimately started playing gay porn on his laptop.
3. Singing the "Pokemon" theme song, the "Spongebob" theme song, and, when it was finally time for them to leave, "Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye."
4. This:
5. Chanting "Satan."
6. Same-sex couples making out.
7. Several instances of, "What are those?" You should have seen the shoes, cargo pants, and floor-length denim skirts these people were wearing.
8. Cheering loudly whenever anyone was told they were going to Hell.
9. This:
For all of this, I'd like to say, thank you, protestors.
Thank you for reminding me that I go to a school where not a soul is going to take you seriously. No one is going to agree with you. No one is going to discriminate or hate like you did that day. No, that day, I felt a part of something wonderful. I was reminded that the biggest reason I love Georgia Tech is because of the passions and thoughts of the students here. Thank you for reminding me that the Christians at my school are nothing like the ones you are. No, ours are the ones who gave me free pancakes on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago and didn't try to shove an opinion down my throat, nor shame me for wearing shorts.
"I was reminded that the biggest reason I love Georgia Tech is because of the passions and thoughts of the students here."
Thank you for proving what Muslims certainly are not. Thank you for inspiring our police officers to thank us on our way out for not getting physical and expressing our freedom of speech as well.
Thank you for visiting a school that believes that women can do whatever they want, that you can love whoever you want, and that everyone is equal. We're too busy getting an education to be bothered by equal rights. Lastly, thank you for allowing me to smile amongst such hatred, as we all sang "Ramblin' Wreck."
While it certainly would have been wiser to ignore them, we can do that when we have graduated, are polite and sophisticated members of society and pass these people on city streets. That's not the case right now. We're in college, we're rebellious and impulsive and political and young, and we're going to have our fun and defend our school and fellow students while we're part of this beautiful Hell-bound family.
Photos by Samuel Stewart, who will unfortunately be spending an eternity in Hell because he is a male with long hair. See you there!
