Cedarville, Day Two

On Friday April 20, our second day in the Cedarville area, we met with community members for lunch at the Coretta Scott King Center on the campus of nearby Antioch College. Several openly LGBT alumni of Cedarville came to the lunch and we had the opportunity to share a meal and talk to them about their experience at the school. These brave alumni were also present for some of the activities on the Cedarville campus the day before.

Later on Friday, a church in Dayton, Ohio hosted the Equality Riders for a dinner with a variety of delicious home-cooked food. The dinner was followed by a worship service that included lots of music and a talk from local pastors who are affirming of LGBT people.

Overall, the visit to Cedarville was encouraging because we were able to have so many conversations with students. Although the administration welcomed the Equality Riders onto their campus and the students we met were friendly, it is clear that the environment for
LGBT students at the school still needs a lot of work. Several of the riders have stayed in touch with students from Cedarville who continue to ask questions and converse about faith and what it means to be gay, lesbian or transgender. Our visit helped to start a dialogue that we
hope will continue.

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