Gay Pride Flag Burned At Albion College

According to a statement from Albion College President Donna Randall, students burned a Gay Pride Flag on the Michigan school's campus last month.

An ensuing investigation discovered that students found the flag in a trash can and burned it behind a campus building. The incident followed events for the college's Coming Out Week.

Randall said that the school "has taken the situation very seriously" and "condemns harassment of any member" of its community. She said she found the behavior reprehensible and offensive and that "appropriate action" had been taken with the students involved.

However, according to the Albion Pleiad, the students went unpunished:

[One] student involved who kept the flag described the reasoning behind the college's decision not to punish the students. The Muskegon first-year said in his own opinion that the students involved were not punished because "the college doesn't condone this action, and they know people will be upset but it wasn't public, it wasn't targeting one person and no one saw it happen." He requested anonymity for fear of safety and reputation.

The Michigan Messenger reports that since Albion is a private university, students' free speech is not protected by the First Amendment.

Comments

[cliffhammond]

11:31 PM on 12/10/2010

If it weren't for the fact that our government and our social institutions are becoming increasingly authoritarian, I would be more in favor of some meaningful form of disciplinary action, such as requiring a public apology. There is a greater principle at stake here and it is trust. We can no longer trust the government and our social institutions to keep their noses out of our business on behalf of the right especially but, as this case indicates, at least a wink and a nod to justice on behalf of the left -- nothing real, you understand.

Sometimes, the best response is another demonstration of active non-violent resistance. Street theater is my favorite. But at this point, I would caution that anymore empowerment of authoritarian "justice" is not to be desired or called upon. It only enhances their grip on power.

[ckevere]

02:28 AM on 11/14/2010

it's an act that creates an atmosphere of fear for the LGBT community in Albion, that's what is truly reprehensible. They took a pride flag that had just been used for an LGBT celebration and burned it. I'm sure it was a spontaneous act of ignorant, idiot freshmen, so I won't read into the possible poetry of that action. I'm appalled that they did not receive any punishment. Typically when symbols of certain communities are burnt publicly, people tend to be a bit more outraged than I'm seeing in the article and in these comments...homophobia is still quite pervasive, it seems.

[Euterpe360]

03:42 PM on 11/12/2010

Speech act not directed at anyone in particular. We should be flattered by how seriously they take our message :)

[DrSnuggles]

10:51 AM on 11/12/2010

I would like to know more about this story before I could rationally come to any conclusions. Some kids found a flag and burnt it - did they publicize the event? Was there any meaning behind it besides 'we're drunk and ignorant'. Because honestly, drunk and ignorant 19 year olds is not news.

[Stephanie Z]

09:00 AM on 11/12/2010

As an alum of Albion, the issue in the campus community is not whether or not this was a form of free speech but if it was a form of hate speech. Albion has a fairly strict code of conduct and this is clearly a violation and would be considered a form of hate speech on campus, yet nothing was done. Maybe 5 years ago, the rock was painted to look like the gay pride flag during the same coming out week celebration and someone came in and tarred it overnight. Those individuals were found and punished yet these got off scott free. Being a private Liberal-Arts institution, Albion claims to be an open, accepting, and encouraging environment for all yet those involved in this incident got away without even a slap on the wrist. Not only did those involved prove their point, by administration not swiftly responding and reprimanding them, the college as whole appears to have the same close minded beliefs and aliented a good portion of its internal and external communities as a result.

[Howard53545]

06:43 AM on 11/12/2010

May be time for the gays to go back in closet, the right is coming fast and hard now!!

[cliffhammond]

11:33 PM on 12/10/2010

"Gay" is not a noun; it is an adjective that sometimes precedes "people."

[MagicManDoneIt]

02:48 AM on 11/12/2010

Is no one else bothered by the last line: "The Michigan Messenger reports that since Albion is a private university, students' free speech is not protected by the First Amendment". I'm not trying to make a free speech argument in this case, but I was disturbed by the truth of the last statement after a little research.

[cliffhammond]

11:38 PM on 12/10/2010

I've been harping on that for years and years. Nobody seems to understand that what we now need is an employees' Bill of Rights. When we punch the time clock in the morning or go to class -- and we don't dare "disturb the peace" in church -- we leave the Constitution in the parking lot. The Bill of Rights that is attached to the U.S. Constitution protects us from the federal government -- even if that anymore with our current "Patriot Act," implying it's our patriotic duty to surrender our rights. It does not protect us from the forms of corporatist oppression we are now experiencing.

[Gary James]

02:10 AM on 11/12/2010

It's just a flag get over it.

[cliffhammond]

11:48 PM on 12/10/2010

You have a noticeably materialistic mindset, at least in that comment. It is "symbolic speech" and in this case it is hate speech. The question whether it should be regulated as such has imposed itself in this discussion in voices pro and con. I was never a Libertarian but when it comes to trusting the federal government since the coup d'etat of '63 with our civil and human rights, I've become very cautious about approaching the national security state and the oligarchs who control them with any issue except the demand that they should surrender control over our government.

No More Wars for Profit
No More "Patriot Act"
No More Searches and Seizures and Domestic Spying
No More "Eminent Domain" on Behalf of Corporations
No More Empty Promises

[PopeRatzo]

08:17 PM on 11/11/2010

Boy, the guys who burned the gay pride flag and then hid it in a garbage can really showed those gays a thing or two. That'll make them think twice about having "pride".

Not.

With any luck, their names will be made public and they'll have this incident follow them for the rest of their lives. I'm sure there are companies just begging to hire the guys who did this.

Of course, they could always go to work for the Republican National Committee. I hear there's going to be a job opening over there pretty soon.

[cliffhammond]

11:52 PM on 12/10/2010

Nagh, they're probably getting drunk every night at their fraternity house and making their pledges masturbate for them as part of the homoerotic initiation ceremonies they all know and love.

[Congo Line]

08:12 PM on 11/11/2010

Not all homophobes are closet cases.

Most are straight. But they are hateful.

[MindTraffic]

03:13 AM on 11/12/2010

Most homophobes ARE closet cases. Google "University of Georgia 1996 homophobia study" and you'll see the supporting research. 80% of homophobic "straight" guys got erections when shown gay porn. Very few of the non-homophobic men did.

Says a lot, doesn't it? If you need further evidence, look up Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, et al.

[cliffhammond]

11:56 PM on 12/10/2010

Hey, by the way, could you tell me where I can get one of those sexological inflation measurement instruments" (SIMI)?

[Forester]

06:29 PM on 11/11/2010

Five will get you ten it was a closet case struggling with their own situation.

[ReagansHeroes]

05:15 PM on 11/11/2010

I am curious. Why is it OK to burn an American flag, but not OK to burn a Gay Rights flag. I strongly oppose both, but liberals always point to the freedom of expression. Why is one justifiable in your eyes and not the other? (BTW this is an honest question and would appreciate the same in the answers).

[Daniel Haro]

05:28 PM on 11/11/2010

Where is it ok to burn an American flag in the United States? i think theres actually laws against that

[Larkhill]

06:11 PM on 11/11/2010

Nope. Nor should there be...

[bannorhill]

07:30 PM on 11/11/2010

The United States Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), and reaffirmed in U.S. v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990), has ruled that due to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is unconstitutional for a government (whether federal, state, or municipality) to prohibit the desecration of a flag, due to its status as "symbolic speech."

[zenlikejen]

05:30 PM on 11/11/2010

Scanning through the comments I expected to find the usual cries of hatred and bigotry...and while there were a few, overwhelmingly everyone here seems to be nonplussed by this thing.

I guess what I'm getting at is WHO is telling everyone it's fine to burn the American flag and not the Pride flag? I'm a lesbian...*and* a veteran - and while I support both actions as expressions of free speech, it doesn't mean I *agree* with them. How many Americans are burning the American flag? Typically, we see that in other countries - not here (not that it doesn't happen...). This is the first I've heard of a Pride flag burning and I'm sure all of us who are working hard to be treated equal could guess all day long as to why this was done (and why it's even news), but the answer is we don't really know. My gut would say it was probably a hateful act - that thankfully the perpetrators didn't bother to make a scene of....but chances are it was just a random dumb thing a group of kids did just "because".

[cliffhammond]

12:10 AM on 12/11/2010

Just reading your name, "zen", made me snap. This is a game of entrapment. It draws us right into its snare of dichotomies. If this then that. This but not that. All objects we choose to pick or to avoid. All having their "own" potential to create suffering by initiating the quintessential illusion of subject judging object. Thank you zen. The ceiling fan is spreading it's wind; the dog sleeps under the table.

[Aj Sol]

03:44 PM on 11/11/2010

This is what happens when a nation spends 10+ years scapegoating a minority to justify electing corrupt leaders like Bush and any Republican you can name.

[stop the politics]

03:22 PM on 11/11/2010

I am really confused about this. So the burning of a flag found in a trash can is offensive? Isn't the throwing of the flag in the trash in the first place more offensive? Shouldn't the school be investigating who threw the flag in the trash? I know I would be more offended if someone threw the American flag in the trash then if they burned it.

[The Patriot]

03:06 PM on 11/11/2010

OMG!!! FREE SPEECH!?!?!?!!?!

It must be STOPPED!!!!

[standish]

05:37 PM on 11/11/2010

I'd be curious to know if your response would be the same if it had been an American flag, rather than a gay pride flag? Want to step up and tell us?

[zenlikejen]

05:51 PM on 11/11/2010

Yeah, yeah...we're all up in arms over the American flag today, aren't we? How many instances of US flag burning do you run across in a typical week? Likely NONE, but it IS considered a form of protected free speech - you and I may not agree with it, but it IS what it is.

So yes, as a lesbian AND a veteran I would support someone who wished to burn the flag. May not LIKE it - but I DO like free speech.

[gubblebumm]

02:20 PM on 11/12/2010

If its an american flag being burned by members of the American Legion, how would you feel? Does it matter to you WHO burns it?