When I first started the ride, I was hesitant about my role at BYU and Notre Dame. As a protestant Christian, I thought that conversations at these schools were ones that I could not be a part of. While I have learned about the LDS faith and the Catholic church in school, I have never before had the opportunity to explore these faiths so intimately. What I have found is truly beautiful.

These faiths carry so much wonderful truth about the divine and about humanity. I have met some of the most amazing people who are either Mormon or Catholic. In the days leading up to our stop at BYU, I spent considerable time talking with my fellow rider Emil Pohlig about the LDS Church and his experiences in it. I’ve also been learning more about it from our other LDS riders Mike, Matt, and Kourt.

I had been disappointed with BYU’s response to our visit and our inability to dialogue with students about these important issues. The progressive theology group was scheduled to give a shortened version of our presentation in “Ashley’s Apt”. I was the first person through the door when we arrived, and I literally opened the door, took a step inside, took a step back, closed the door, said “Oh wow” to my groupmates, and then went in (yes, seriously).

The room was about the size of 3 hotel rooms (right now that is my only standard of measure) and it was literally PACKED full of BYU students. I had to wade my way through the crowd–the entire floor was covered, people were standing around the walls, and even opening the door was difficult–that’s how full it was.

Emily, Aaron, Jonathan, Brandon, and I gave a greatly shortened version of our Progressive Theology presentation but then quickly opened it up for questions as we were meeting with a weekly discussion group (their Wednesday meeting will be all about our visit!). I don’t know why I am always so surprised to find that there are students who want to talk about these issues everywhere. Not everyone in attendance was in agreement with us; in fact, I would imagine that most were not. But that didn’t stop them from having questions, from having opinions, from wanting to learn more.

I was completely moved by these students and their faith. In my own experiences, I have seen the great families and good works of people in the Mormon Church. It breaks my heart to think that GLBT Mormons are being forced out of the LDS Church if they recognize the God-given self-worth within them. Rather than being supported in their relationships, they are abandoned. I have a place at this table because my fellow GLBT community members are being denied access to God. They are being denied access to conversations. They are told by their church that they will be denied access to the Celestial Kingdom even if they trust God in their hearts.

Matt, Mike, Emil, Kourt and I know that the Celestial Kingdom would be greatly enriched by their presence there. I have a place to talk at BYU, and later at BYU-Idaho because I know LDS individuals who are GLBT and I need to help tell their story.

The Westbound bus visited Wisconsin Lutheran on March 12-13. Six riders and two community members (one of whom was a local pastor) were arrested for talking with students on campus on the second day. Since then we have stopped in four more states and traveled through many others. We have been very busy in the time since then, but as I made this video and watched it all the way through for the first time, I was still chilled. I don’t think I will ever forget the icey reception we received or the pit in my stomach as I watched my close friends arrested for talking about the Bible with other Christians.

I hope you are equally moved.

On Thursday March 9, the Equality Riders were allowed on to campus to attend mass and interact with students. They were given no official platform, were instructed not to speak with groups, and were forbidden from passing out any supplementary information. When Riders spoke out publicly and shared information about upcoming events with students as requested, they were cited for trespassing and required to leave.

The following day, the Equality Riders returned, arm in arm with Notre Dame students, to lay a memorial wreath at the statue of Notre Dame alum Tom Dooley, a gay military officer. Jonathan will be blogging about the experience later. Here is a video documenting Notre Dame’s response.