“People actually fought hate with peace, which is exactly what should be going on.”
When an anti-gay protester interrupted a celebration of the LGBT community at the University of Maine last week, the students involved chose to counteract the hate with a message of love.
More than 100 students were gathered for a Coming Out Week event, which was meant to promote LGBT inclusion and acceptance on the campus, when a man carrying a sign with a Bible verse began to argue with members of the crowd.
Rather than participate in a shouting match, the students surrounded the protester and serenaded him with an a capella version of Elvis Presley’s “Cant Help Falling in Love.”
“Instead of fighting back with violent words or violent actions, people actually fought hate with peace, which is exactly what should be going on,” sophomore Matt McAllister told WABI about footage he captured of the moment. “It makes me very proud to go to school here, to be part of such a community that can come together in a way like that out of nowhere.”
“Peace doesn’t have to be, you know, harmonizing a song,” McAllister added. “It can be just showing that you respect somebody’s differences.”
