About a quarter of the Duke University student section are wearing rainbow stickers and rainbow pins during the Blue Devils’ national semifinal matchup against the Michigan State Spartans (check out more photos below).
One undergrad, Emily Kuo, is even wearing a rainbow flag as a cape in support of the LGBT community. Other rainbow flags have been seen in the arena.
The presence of rainbow flags at the game is no coincidence. Several students, including Kuo, teamed up to purchase and distribute the the stickers and pins to the entire student section as a bit of a demonstration against the recently amended Indiana state law that sought to discriminate against LGBT people.
"We're here to show our solidarity with the LGBT community in Indiana and to oppose the recent legislation in Indiana," said Cameron Platt, head of the Duke LGBT MBA group. "It's been amended, but there's a lot of progress we still need to make across the country and in Indiana. Duke University is also very supportive and a welcomign commnity and we want to show that here at the Final Four."
Platt has had a few fans decline to wear the rainbow stickers or pins, but he said the vast majority have been very supportive. He said the LGBT MBA group is here for the games, as well as the school's undergraduate LGBT organization. The gays are in the house.
It’s a strong, inclusive statement by the Cameron Crazies, who some might think put basketball above all else during the NCAA tournament. The rainbow flags are a nice reminder of priorities.
This makes it a lot harder to hate Duke.
