Photo Courtesy of Andani Munkaila

Students create bonds and share the joy in Halloween traditions amidst a homophobic protest. 

BY KAYLYN BARNHART, CULTURE EDITOR

Spooky season just got spookier when a protester visited Mason and strongly expressed his homophobic and religious opinions to students on campus. A large crowd of students formed around the protest and they boldly disputed with him while other students stood back and spectated. Amongst the chaos and controversy, we managed to squeeze ourselves into the crowd and get the real story. 

We wanted to know: What are people dressing up as for Halloween?

It is the season of carving pumpkins, dressing up in scary or non-scary costumes and binge-eating candy. With Halloween around the corner, we wanted to know what Mason students are planning for the spooky holiday. 

Of course, some people didn’t know what they were going to be for Halloween. Just like how some people coming out from their classes didn’t know what all the noise from the protest was about. 

“I just saw a big crowd of people circling around this one guy, so I came to check it out. I don’t really know what’s going on,” said Freshman Noah Martineau, who is now questioning what his Halloween costume is going to be. 

In the crowd were students bonding and sharing their thoughts as they watched the protest with one another. Freshman Kemora Dent, who was talking closely with her friend, is more certain about what she is going to dress up as for Halloween and shares her plans for the upcoming holiday.

“I am looking to be an angel,” said Dent. “I like being with friends and dressing up, and we’re going to go to a party.” Dent’s friend, who was alongside her, decided that she will probably dress up as a devil to go with her angel costume. 

Besides the students sharing their disagreement towards the homophobic views while in between classes, there was another topic we found that differed amongst the crowd. 

That is: What are people’s favorite Halloween candy? 

Snickers. Heath Bars. 100 Grand. Although quite similar with their milk chocolate and cocoa butter ingredients, they are not favored equally. 

Despite these differing views being shared in front of Horizon Hall, most students agree that they enjoy seeing the eerie decorations and Halloween aesthetics at this time of the year.

Martineau, who has been standing at the back of the rowdy crowd, finally decided he is going to be some type of scary monster. He was probably inspired by watching the guy being shouted at in the middle of the crowd.

Ironically, the hateful protest brought students together in a positive way. Martineau and Senior Ian Montalvo found each other in the crowd and kindled a new friendship. Like Martineau, Montalvo is looking at doing a horror-themed costume. The two are now planning on doing something together for Halloween. 

“It’s amazing how this homophobic person ended up bringing people together,” said Montalvo.