When the rally began at noon, the steps of Memorial Church were already canvassed with posters with messages such as "Is my pain fun - why cause it?" and "More than tolerance, I want love."

BGLTSA members and supporters stood on the church's stairs holding posters with the names of 20 people killed in the past year for their sexual orientation.

Written simply in black pen on white paper, one poster read "Henry Northington: beheaded, severed head left on a footbridge in a public park."

"We refuse to stand silently while we are made to feel uncomfortable in our own home," BGLTSA co-chair Anna M. Baldwin '00 said.

Tan said he believes that the acts of vandalism highlight a disturbing trend. The homophobic incidents have initiated discussion, but Tan said he has noticed that students address homosexuality as a decision and not as biology.

"While we are willing to engage in dialogue, we are not interested in a conversation on the validity of homosexuality," he said. "No one asks about the merits of blackness or womanliness--it's asinine."

"Homosexuality is not a belief system," he added. "It is the way people are: how they love and whom they love."