Erin Faith Page is an out lesbian who was selected by her
classmates at New England College as the student commencement speaker
this year. But NEC, a small, private liberal arts school of about 1,800
students, also selected Sen. Kelly Ayotte as the keynote speaker for the
graduation ceremony. Ayotte is a junior senator from New Hampshire, a
Republican who voted against the gun control bill, supports the Defense
of Marriage Act and has advocated for the repeal of New Hampshire's
marriage equality law, and is staunchly antigay and antichoice.
That didn't sit well with Page, who describes the senator
as "racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, [and] openly
discriminatory" in a scathing speech published to YouTube as a protest
commencement speech.
Page also launched a petition on Change.org hoping to urge NEC to reconsider its invitation to Ayotte.
Watch Page's protest commencement speech below, where Page not only lays into Ayotte, but details how homophobia has impacted her life personally. It's a powerful plea for equality from a bright young woman whose education has clearly taught her how to stand up for what she believes.
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