The Daily Tar Heel reports that UNC’s LGBTQ Center is going forward with an open forum today — which the group planned in response to the “hate crime” against student Quinn Matney — a “hate crime” we now know was fabricated. Not only is the forum going forward, high level officials are still planning to attend and speak. (emphasis is mine)

 

Jeff DeLuca, co-president of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Alliance, said the group will still join UNC’s LGBTQ Center to hold a forum today that they planned in response to the now-disproved report. He said the forum will address safety issues and communication on campus.

He said Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp and other administrators will give remarks. The forum will then open to questions.

“There’s a lot of emotion involved in this right now,” he said. “We really want this forum to be a constructive space for beginning the conversation about safety on- and off-campus.”

 

Why hold a forum based on something that never occurred? In fact, a check of the UNC LGBTQ Center’s web site this morning shows the group still claims a hate crime occurred and has not updated its site to reflect that the story is a lie.

Despite my frustration with this whole story, I am happy the student is reportedly getting counseling and that his father appears to be very involved in helping his son. I wish them both the best.