Fraternity to Gay Student: ‘You Don’t Belong Here Faggot’—WATCH

The University of Memphis is investigating a fraternity after students say they were kicked out of a party for being gay.

Benjamin Buckley and Luke Chapman told WMC5 Action News they were attending the party when they were thrown out by a group of male students, one of whom told Buckley, “you don’t belong here faggot.”

Says Buckley: “He was screaming at us and called us faggot and all these things. And he looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to beat the f**k out of you. I’m going to beat the life out of you.”

Chapman wrote a Facebook post that was brought to the attention of school administrators who are investigating the incident. “That morning I think I had so many messages of support and so many people messaging me offering to help.”

University President,  Dr. David Rudd,  released a statement: “An off-campus incident involving possible bigotry has been brought to my attention and has been referred for investigation. The Office of the Dean of Students is in the process of reaching out to students and others potentially involved. I think those that were responsible need to be held accountable.”

Buckley and Chapman told NBC they’re pleased that the university is addressing the issue and hope the incident sparks a larger conversation around homophobia on campus. They also said they want the students who kicked them out of the party while yelling homophobic slurs to be held accountable.

“It actually reflects a lot of what’s happening in society today,” Buckley said of the incident. “We can understand that and grow from that.”

While the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is estimated by Gallup to comprise 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, LGBTQ people make up more than 16 percent of federally reported hate crimes, according to the FBI’s 2017 hate crimes report. In 2017, the number of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes increased by 3 percent compared to the year prior.