BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Dozens of Indiana University students marched through the Bloomington campus Thursday, demanding school leaders increase protections for LGBTQ students.
They also hosted a town hall where they told their own stories and talked about possible solutions.
The town hall was led by Declan Farley, who identifies as a transgender queer student. Farley went viral on TikTok after talking about the harassment he says he experienced in his dorm by other students.
Farley said he would like to see the university enforce stricter punishments for students who harass others. He said he would also like to see residence hall assistants trained on how to better handle such discrimination.
Farley believes that kind of support could save lives.
"I was told, 'We will just wait and see what happens and see if it keeps going, if there's anything more of things that happen, come talk to us,'" Farley said. "That's just unacceptable. There needs to be action taken immediately to prevent things like this from happening. I shouldn't have to wait for things to get worse. That's what happened."
13News reached out to university officials about how they plan to handle harassment allegations. In a statement, IU told us the university is committed to having an inclusive, safe campus and pointed to a website where students can report cases of bias.