A little more than 13 years ago, candlelight vigils were held after the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was tortured, tied to a fence post and left to die. 

Thursday night, crowds identifying with all types of sexual orientation, races and gender joined together in statewide vigils for murder victim and Waterloo teen Marcellus Andrews.

Although his murder has not been ruled a hate crime, those in the LGBTA community still feel that it’s important to spread awareness about violence against LGBT youth and people. 

Thao Pham, senior in management information systems and an Iowa Pride Network board member and leadership council team member for the last two years, said there’s a misconception that even in a progressive environment, hate and crime both don’t happen.

She explained that because same-sex marriage is legal in Iowa, society thinks it can avoid hate crimes and homophobia; in reality, Pham said this just isn’t true. 

Pham also wanted to point out that no one ever confirmed that Andrews was gay.

She wants others to know that heterosexuals who look or act a certain way are labeled even if they are straight. 

“I thought that was pretty ridiculous,” Pham said. 

“Even if [Andrews] was heterosexual, they killed a human being because they thought he was this certain type of person,” she said. 

A Facebook event was created for those in the Des Moines area wanting to show their support for Andrews. The event information said that it was a quiet protest in honor of Marcellus and other hate-crime victims where they walked from Blazing Saddle in Des Moines to the state Capitol building steps. 

A comment on the event said, “I’m not able to attend. I will have my front porch light on and will pause for a time of prayer during the time of the service. Let us continue to shine the light on injustice.” 

Another said, “We may not know all of the facts, but I find it hard to believe they are not considering it a hate crime when the perpetrators were yelling anti-gay slurs during the attack. Something is not right about that.”

Whatever the motives were, a common thread of support is seen and heard in LGBTA groups and individuals.

Dane Buchholz, sophomore in architecture and member of the Iowa Pride Network’s leadership council, said it’s important for LGBT youth to understand how to deal with situations like this and for others to spread awareness about homophobia.

“People just need to know that it’s still happening, and we still have a lot of work to do,” Buchholz said. 

The Iowa Pride Network posted a statement Thursday regarding the death of Andrews:

“This Sunday, many of us were getting ready for our first day of classes. However, as we all now know, one person was not.

Upon hearing the story of Marcellus Richard Andrews, we were deeply disturbed that such violence and persecution happened here in the state of Iowa; however we were not entirely surprised that this sort of incident happened.

We know firsthand that discrimination and bigotry both exist here, as in other places in the nation, despite our outward progressive appearance.

Let us not as citizens become so naïve as to think occurrences such as these are confined to places that are always elsewhere and never ‘here,’ ever close to home.

This has served as a reminder that the fight for equality is not over. We as youth need to vocalize what is happening in our schools and communities to better ensure the safety of all. We need to report every incident, every time so that issues such as these do not go unnoticed.

By bringing these issues to the forefront people can become educated and help eliminate tragic events like this one. It is our hope that one day all youth will feel safe to live out in the open, as who they truly are.”