Harassed Gay College Student Breaks Silence to Anderson Cooper

The openly gay Student Assembly president of the University of Michigan has endured half a year of online harassment by a state official. He directly addressed the "hurtful" blog that has accused him of being "Satan's representative" for the first time during an Oct. 6 appearance on Anderson Cooper's CNN news program AC360.

Among other actions targeting Armstrong, a Michigan assistant attorney general named Andrew Shirvell has posted images of Armstrong at a blog called Chris Armstrong Watch, including an image that depicts a rainbow flag with a Nazi symbol and an arrow pointing to Armstrong. The blog has made a number of claims against the young man, including accusations that Armstrong has seduced fellow students in order to coax them into a "homosexual lifestyle," and that an orgy took place in Armstrong's dorm room.

The blog also called Armstrong a "privileged pervert," and accused him of "sexual escapades at churches and children's playgrounds," as well as referring to Armstrong as a "Nazi-like recruiter for the cult that is homosexuality," and accusing the young man of being "racist and elitist to the core." Shirvell's blog is maintained under the name "Concerned Michigan Alumnus," and Shirvell maintains that he is an alumnus of the school. After he appeared at several student government assemblies, the school banned Shirvell from campus.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has defended Shirvell's right to post what he wants to on his own time, saying that it's a matter of free speech but also denouncing Shirvell for his "immaturity and lack of judgment." However, an occasion on which Shirvell stood outside Armstrong's home taking footage with a video camera raised serious doubts even to Cox, who told the Associated Press in an Oct. 1 article that, "Part of the video [shows] this young man's house at 1:30 on a Sunday morning. Clearly, I wouldn't recommend that to any state employee to be doing. That being said," Cox continued, "it's not something where I can walk in one day and say, 'I don't like what he has on there, let's broom him.' He has First Amendment protections."

After an interview with Anderson Cooper in which Cooper questioned his "obsession" with the young man, Shirvell took personal leave from his job. A spokesperson for Cox has told the media that Shirvell faces the prospect of disciplinary proceedings upon his return.

Throughout the half-year of attacks that the blog has aimed at him, Armstrong has refused to fire back. But on Sept. 27, at a meeting of the student assembly, Armstrong said, "I will not back down. I will not flinch. I will not falter. I will not succumb to any unwarranted attacks."

The Oct. 6 AC360 interview marked the first time Armstrong has directly responded in public to Shirvell's online attacks. "Why are you speaking out now?" Cooper asked the student.

"Given what's happened in the past week, and given the student suicides that have happened in the past few weeks, it's hard not to say something," Armstrong replied, referring to a rash of recent suicides by gay teens across the nation who had suffered anti-gay harassment and bullying at school.

"It's important to understand that things can get better, and it's important to know that you can reach out in your community," added Armstrong.

"Did it surprise you that you're out of high school and yet you're suddenly in a position where you're being bullied in a completely unusual way by someone in a position of power?" asked Cooper.

"It was certainly surprising," said Armstrong. Though he referred to Shirvell's blog as being "hurtful," Armstrong added that "the things being said about me are not my issues."

An article about the interview that appeared on Oct. 7 at CNN.com noted that Shirvell has now shielded his blog, called Chris Armstrong Watch, behind a password-protected layer of security. Shirvell has been banned from the University of Michigan campus, and Armstrong has applied for a personal protection order against Shirvell. If Armstrong is granted the order of personal protection, that would be grounds for initiating proceedings to address Shirvell's conduct, Mike Cox told Anderson Cooper during his own interview on AC360.

Meantime, Armstrong has received support at his school and from other schools as well. The Student Government Association at Sam Houston State University in Hunstville, Texas, showed its support for Armstrong by approving a policy saying that students should be free of discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. "It is unacceptable for any individual who is fairly elected by the student body to be treated this way," said SGA Chief of Staff Kendall Scudder, who wrote the legislation. "Especially by the state officials who are elected to protect the rights of the students."