A student organization held its annual candle-light ceremony Wednesday at the Greek theater honoring hate crime victims.
Members of Spectrum Alliance set up candles around the front of the theater which were lighted during the presentation.
Spectrum, which has been at LSU since the summer of 2000, is the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activist group.
The group’s mission is to foster a community acceptable of all people regardless of sexuality, said Spectrum Social Chair Becca Hebert.
This is the third hate-crime vigil Spectrum has had.
“At first, it started out by us honoring Matthew Shepard, who was killed around this time of year,” said Spectrum Secretary Rachel All.
Matthew Shepard was a 21 year-old student at the University of Wyoming who was killed in 1998 because he was gay.
Last year, about 30 people attended the vigil, All said. About 15 people attended Wednesday.
Andre Monte is a member of Spectrum and regularly participates in events.
“This is something that Spectrum needs to continue to do annually and hopefully get more people to come out,” Monte said.
The vigil started with Hebert and All reading poems that addressed queer issues.
Hebert, All, Monte and Anna Byars, a women’s and gender studies junior, then read a list of hate crime victims and portrayed the extent of some particular hate crimes against gays, some occurring in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Brandon Nicholas, a communication studies junior who attended the vigil, is not a member of Spectrum.
“I heard about it from a friend; it was a good experience,” Nicholas said.
After the victim’s names were read, candles were given to attendants and lighted. Music played while everyone sat in silence.
Spectrum thinks it is important to have this event every year, not only to acknowledge lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims, but to honor all victims of hates crimes, Byars said.