Stop the hate. Stop the hate.

The chant rang through the crowd at a rally on Glenn Terrell Mall on Wednesday in response to the alleged hate crimes committed against members of the GLBTQ community during the past three weeks.

“Our goal is to get the administrators aware of what’s going on on-campus and to raise awareness about this problem within the student body,” said Jason Puz, vice president of the Young Democrats and a senior political science major.

Students, faculty and community members wore red shirts at the rally to support the GLBTQ community. Many held up picket signs that read “No Means No,” “Respect Me” or “End Hate.” Pins reading “Don’t Say It” were also handed out at the rally.

At the beginning of the rally, GLBTA President Nikki Hahn said the rally was a “Safe Zone,” where administrators were asked to listen, but not speak.

The hour-long gathering included speeches by Hahn and students affected by the recent alleged hate crimes.

“This rally is meant for people to tolerate, accept and respect people of the gay, lesbian, and transgender community,” Hahn said.

The speeches took place under a red tent with caution tape surrounding the stage. At the end of the scheduled talks, there was an open mike opportunity for supporters who wanted to speak about the recent events.

Jackson Hogan, a transgendered person and victim in one of the alleged hate crimes, read a poem.

“I am more real than they could ever hope to be,” Hogan said.

President Elson S. Floyd attempted to speak to the crowd but was turned away by rally organizers saying the decision to not allow administrators s to speak was reached by community consensus.

Students from the University of Idaho were also present and two made appearances on stage to speak about some vandalism that has taken place on their campus.

Another supporter, senior communication major Benjamin Martinez, spoke about how happy he was to see the number of supporters at the rally.

“I’m very proud of what’s going on and the support group on campus, you can change people’s minds every day,” Martinez said.

Another supporter said hate crimes have risen more than six percent nationwide during the past year, a trend that needs to be “bottled up” immediately.

Lauren Edholm, a GLBTA member and a political science and communication major, said she felt like the WSU administration has not responded enough to the recent alleged crimes.

“They need to make this a safe campus for people. Safety is a right, not a privilege, and they need to provide gender-neutral housing so members of this community don’t feel like they need to move out of dorms,” Edholm said.

After the rally concluded, the protesters marched across the mall to the bridge leading to the French Administration Building as part of the protest.

Cars honked as students continued to chant and wave a multicolored American flag in front of the building.

“To see any changes we will need the support of the administrators and students on campus, not just the students,” Edholm said.

Floyd said the administration will work to improve campus safety.

“As I’ve said from the beginning, we need to secure a safe community at WSU by ending biased views,” he said.