Round Up: Election Night Protests, Tigers’ Delmon Young & Transgender Victims

Ole Miss Students Hold Vigil After Election Night Protests

Last week, University of Mississippi students stood up to another divisive protest. On Election Night, after the re-election of President Barack Obama, more than 400 students gathered to protest, yell racial epithets and burn an Obama campaign sign.

Chancellor Dan Jones quickly denounced the protests, saying students and faculty of the university were “ashamed” of the actions of a few of their peers. The following day, student group One Mississippi gathered about 700 students at a candlelight vigil, where they read the university’s creed to “respect the dignity of each person.” It was the same counter tactic they used when the Ku Klux Klan protested in support of the controversial chant—“the South will rise again”—sung at university football games in 2009.

Check out video of the vigil on Vimeo.

The Museum of Tolerance in New York Gets a New Visitor:
Delmon Young of the Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers might have lost the World Series to the San Francisco Giants last month, but one of their former players, Delmon Young, stood to lose a lot more in court last week.

Young pleaded guilty to hate crime charges on Wednesday for an April incident in which the slugger hurled anti-Semitic slurs at a man before tackling him on a New York City sidewalk. In addition to 10 days of community service, Young will have to pay a fitting tribute to hate crime victims by taking a walk through the Museum of Tolerance in Manhattan, on orders from the court.

The museum visit is part of a New York County program to help educate hate crime aggressors and bring closure to their victims. Read more about the program in the New York Times.

Remembering Rita Hester

Groups around the world—from Calgary to Memphis, Helsinki to Athens—are preparing marches, candlelight vigils and film screenings this month to memorialize transgender victims of hate crimes.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance officially starts on Nov. 20. The day was created in honor of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in Allston, MA on Nov. 28, 1998. Her murder was never solved.

Since then, the day of remembrance has spread to more than 185 cities in 20 countries. Events will be held in many cities across the country. Visit GLAAD’s website for a list of resources, or check out TransgenderDOR.org for a list of memorial events worldwide.

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