This article includes references to homophobic comments.
“I thought he was probably just gonna leave it on seen or something,” Jagbir Kang, a 19-year-old who works full-time, told The Ubyssey.
On June 16, Kang replied to a UBC student’s Instagram story — the student’s name has been omitted for privacy reasons — that included an anti-mask meme. They were former high school classmates that hadn’t talked for a while, so Kang had no expectations of a reply. “It’s not strength it’s actually selfishness,” he wrote in reference to the meme’s assertion that anti-maskers are strong and shine a light on the weakness of mask-wearers.
The UBC student did reply, but his message was about something entirely different.
“It takes strength to take it up the ass tho I’m sure ?,” the student wrote.
Kang was left confused and frustrated by the homophobic comment.
“I don't know why he did that. So then that's why I started talking back because that really made me mad,” he said.
Kang replied, calling the student homophobic, which led the student to write that he wasn’t afraid of gay people but that he was disgusted by them.
The two continued to exchange messages with Kang continuing to challenge the UBC student’s homophobia until the student accused Kang of forcing his beliefs on him, which "is actually against basic human rights."
“He sent the last message and I left him on read,” Kang said.
Out of the DMs
After the encounter, Kang decided to post screenshots of their conversation to his Instagram.
In his post, which has over 560 likes as of publication, Kang wrote, “BASIC HOMOPHOBIC SURREY BROWN BOY ENERGY❗️@ubc y’all accept ppl like this at ur school??? Literally made a simple comment and had to hear all this bs from him. Pls share.”
He also tagged UBC, various departments like the Equity & Inclusion Office (EIO) and UBC Engineering — the student’s faculty — as well as CTV Vancouver.
People flooded the comments, tagging UBC and writing that the university’s standards for acceptance are low.
UBC’s main Instagram account commented on the post a few days later, thanking Kang for bringing the incident to UBC’s attention and that the university is committed to addressing any concerns of human rights-based discrimination.
“If you would like to discuss your concerns of discrimination in confidence, please contact our Human Rights team at humanrights@equity.ubc.ca or learn more at https://equity.ubc.ca/how-we-can-help/,” the university’s comment reads.
Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, pointed to the UBC’s Instagram comment, but said that the university cannot speak “on the specifics of the instance” when asked for a statement.
Kang told The Ubyssey that he saw UBC’s comment and that he plans to follow up with the human rights portfolio at the EIO.
“I guess as much as UBC can do as in — not saying this in a bad way — ... [the student] gets what he deserves, like he knows what he did was wrong,” he said.
Kang did not expect his post to be seen by so many, and for reactions to be largely positive.
“I didn't think it was going to go as viral as it did,” he said. “It felt good to know [that] most of the people that were commenting were supportive and stuff”
The UBC student liked the post, but Kang has not had any direct contact with him since. He has been messaged by a few people who have had similar experiences with the student, however.
When asked why he decided to share the screenshots from his conversation with the UBC student, Kang said that it was to bring attention to issues of homophobia.
“It's just to create awareness to let people know that it's not right … we shouldn’t be saying that type of stuff to anyone.”