Ellington

The Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) returned to campus yesterday.

Encircled by fences, the display features large poster boards that juxtapose images of aborted fetuses with pictures of genocide, war and ethnic cleansing. The photo-mural is intended to provoke discussion on abortion, said Don Cooper, a member of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, which is responsible for the traveling exhibit.

“It has a modest goal. We want people to see the humanity of the unborn and the inhumanity of abortion. We want them to see who the baby is and what abortion looks like. Most of the signs you see don’t draw a conclusion — they just make statements and pose a question,” said Cooper, pointing to an image of a child killed in Rwanda that was paired with a picture of an aborted fetus.

While students recognize the group’s right to express its views, many question the display’s public location. An anti-GAP group organized on Facebook and asked students to wear red in protest. Other students avoided Red Square to silently oppose the images.

“There are a lot of people who just want to yell at us. But we have a lot of good conversations with people who are actually seeking the facts. It’s pretty well divided …” said GAP representative Kerry Daly. “One time there was a group that came out and was shouting and chanting. And a year ago, we did have some woman throw some things at the sign.”

GAP has often been accused of provoking students to react aggressively. Last year, one student egged the exhibit and another drew on the presentation boards with a marker. Some allege that GAP, which chronicles many of its filed lawsuits on its website, funds its traveling exhibit with the settlement money.

When asked about the project’s history of lawsuits, Cooper said: “Any money that comes from that, we don’t see a penny of it. … Fortunately, we don’t have to go to court too much. Usually it’s enough to let people know that we will.”

Cooper added that GAP recently sued the Los Angeles County police department $25,000 for unjustly moving aside a billboard truck that displayed similar images.

“They’re free to show these pictures, but they should also be aware that this is a college campus, and they should try and work with the community,” said senior Krista Hiatt who viewed the exhibit yesterday.

GAP began in 1999 and has visited the University of Washington several times since. The first year it arrived in Red Square, a mob of students staged a sit-in, and the university moved the exhibit to a more clandestine location. GAP later successfully sued the university for infringement of its freedom of speech.

“I feel like a lot of the students on campus are very open to hearing both sides. Pro-life is big on campus as well as pro-choice. But this particular display is kind of graphic and [can be] seen as offensive. Their tactics are not the way to go about it,” Hiatt said. “This isn’t a very reasonable way to have a debate. This isn’t a very intelligent way to have a debate. It lowers both the feeling of genocide, which is so important — we need to be upset about it — as well as abortion, which we need to be thinking about in serious terms. But it brings them both down to a low level.”

Hiatt, an art student, understands the purpose of the thought-provoking visuals but said the graphic display turned students off to listening. Hiatt recalled that a Jewish friend who saw the exhibit last year had become emotional, not because of the intended message, but because of the “monopolization of images” — particularly those of Holocaust victims.

Cooper confirmed that the images were poignantly placed. Fetuses aligned with a quarter that reads: “In God We Trust,” are supposed to evoke irony and hypocrisy, and above all help students visualize the medical procedure.

“It’s quite inappropriate to put it in the center of the school and talk about genocide when there is real genocide going on …” said senior Thuch Malual’Deng, from Sudan, as he gestured to the juxtaposed images. “I do not believe in abortion either, but this is just gross. … Some people do it because they have to, even in my own country where abortion is not possible, [exceptions] are still made if you have to. These people are too extreme for me.”

Jürg Koch, an assistant professor of dance, said he worked in a building near the display and worried that it was escalating — each year the poster boards towered higher than they had in previous years. He also noted that this year’s images included many pictures and quotes by President Barack Obama.

“I’m shocked to see this display so closely linked to Obama. That’s actually why I came closer. All these images, all these posters include Barack Obama,” Koch said. “What is this link that they’re trying to establish [with] showing images of lynchings of black men predominantly? It’s just appalling.”

Koch said that the group was entitled to its opinion, but wondered if there was a better location for the provoking images.

“In theater, where I come from, you have to declare if you use offensive language, and the audience can make a decision about whether they’re going to subject themselves to offensive language in a performance…” he said. “There’s no way of avoiding this if you don’t want to be exposed to this. … I think the university has too lenient a policy for this hate speech. … If you have hate speech in your presentation, then you don’t belong here. Find another way to articulate it.”

However, members of GAP believe that, rather than hate speech, the exhibit is intended to promote dialogue about the issue of abortion.

“GAP is focused primarily on starting a conversation,” Daly said. “What’s taught in schools and the media is pretty much one-sided. You occasionally hear the pro-life side of the story. Most people think that the question has already been decided, but 3,600 babies a day killed, we feel is worth speaking up for.”

Reach reporter Celina Kareiva at news@dailyuw.com.