GLBT protests oppression with silence

At 5 p.m., the silence was broken and participants and supporters gathered in the Virginia Dale room in the Lory Student Center to discuss the events and successes of the day.

A support circle of about 20 students applauded protesters and their cause.

"This day was about finding your voice, finding our voice," said Courtney Paddock, student coordinator for GLBTSS. "I was very proud to see people out there wearing their shirts; I felt like it was a privilege to do so."

At the end of the meeting, Julia Johns, member of Colorado Youth for Unity and Equality and a sophomore political science major, asked for support of an upcoming rally that she is co-organizing.

For every member of Youth for Unity and Equality, it is a rally for equal rights for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender. For Johns, it is in remembrance of her late girlfriend, Stephanie Semler, who died at 19 of a drug overdose after falling victim to hate crimes in 2005.

Semler's overdose was unrelated to her clinical depression resulting from the attacks.

The protest, on the west steps of the Capitol Building, will decry hate crimes against transgender individuals, Johns said.

In memory of transgender victims of hate crimes, more than 300 tombstones will be erected on the Capitol lawn in representation of their deaths.

Staff writer Madeline Novey can be reached at [email protected].