Home blog UMD cracks down on anti-gay slurs at sports events

UMD cracks down on anti-gay slurs at sports events

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Students chanting homophobic slurs at a University of Minnesota-Duluth men’s hockey game have prompted the school to crack down. UMD says that fans chanting sexist, racist or homophobic words will be asked to leave.

“These words were extremely derogatory toward women and gays and lesbians,” UMD student Alyssa Longley wrote to school officials after attending a game. “Prejudice does not go away on its own and, left unchecked, can spiral into dangerous situations.”

“Group mentality took over; they ended up portraying UMD as a vulgar and clearly not open-minded place to be, where I feel very comfortable on this campus being a lesbian,” Alyssa Longley, a freshman, told the Duluth News Tribune. “I am treated really, really well here. They didn’t show that … at that instance.”

School officials said they will be on the lookout for such behavior at sports events.

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Andy Birkey has written for a number of Minnesota and national publications. He founded Eleventh Avenue South which ran from 2002-2011, wrote for the Minnesota Independent from 2006-2011, the American Independent from 2010-2013. His writing has appeared in The Advocate, The Star Tribune, The Huffington Post, Salon, Cagle News Service, Twin Cities Daily Planet, TheUptake, Vita.mn and much more. His writing on LGBT issues, the religious right and social justice has won awards including Best Beat Reporting by the Online News Association, Best Series by the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and an honorable mention by the Sex-Positive Journalism awards.

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