On Monday, we resumed our journey and drove down to Gouverneur to meet with the Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava in her district office. Dan Spink, our wonderful host from Canton, led the way to the meeting. Scozzafava is one of only four Republican legislators who have recently voted for marriage equality in New York. We wanted to thank the Assemblywoman for her courageous stance and support. Due to scheduling conflicts, we met with her staff.

On the way to the meeting, as we watched miles and miles of fields and pastures roll by, I wondered how someone could make an informed decision about what’s right in such a remote locale where conversations about LGBT equality seldom happen. We’ve been visiting with gay and lesbian people all along our trip. Not surprisingly, it is in rural areas like the North Country where marriage inequality hits the hardest and its dire consequences become most self-evident. When you live in welcoming and affirming communities (which tend to be urban and politically more liberal), the brunt of legal discrimination is couched in sympathetic rhetoric and a sense of progress. In places with hostile faith environments and without supportive networks, however, it could be life-saving for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families to fall back on the letter of the law. Unfortunately, the marriage laws work against them. One can argue that politicians representing areas such as Northern New York should be at the forefront of the movement for marriage equality since it would immediately and fully protect some of their most vulnerable constituents.

During our PFLAG/PRISM picnic in Canton we met a former classmate of the Assemblywoman Scozzafava who met with her prior to the vote to explain the significance of this bill and what it would mean for him to be granted the legal protections and responsibilities of marriage. He also helped clarify the inequity between civil unions and marriage. It turns out that conversation among old friends helped determine the Assemblywoman’s position on this issue. It only further goes to prove the importance of being out and proud in one’s community no matter how challenging it might be. It is easy to pass laws against “those people” but it is nearly impossible to discriminate against people you know, your neighbors and friends.

We looked forward to participating in another county fair later in the day, but since it had rained for several days and over the weekend, the fair was not yet open. So we took a moment to write thank you notes for our supporters who have donated to the Right to Marry campaign thus far. All financial contributions make our educational journey possible. So look for some North Country love coming your way! And if you have not yet had a chance to donate to this important effort, please, do so on our website. Tonight we go on to our next destination, Watertown, or H2O-town as we’ve come to call it amongst ourselves.

Onwards, Alexey Bulokhov

By Kalil Cohen

The North Van spent today in Watertown New York, a town of about 30,000 people located next to one of our countries largest military bases, Fort Drum. This morning we split up into two groups to meet with two legislators from the area. Four of us and Diane, a local lesbian woman from Watertown, met with Senator Wright’s staff. We met with two staff members in a cordial and fairly extensive meeting. Senator Wright has clearly stated that he is against marriage equality, along with other LGBT legislation. Though his staffers could not articulate exactly why this is, they cited a conservative constituency and Christian values as major concerns for the Senator. To counter these arguments we cited the great numbers of Watertown residents (over 400 so far) who have signed a marriage equality petition being circulated by our hosts, Diane and her partner Joanne as well as many of their friends and colleagues. Diane also gave him a copy of a book written by her Pastor Ron from the United Church of Christ regarding same-sex relationships and Christianity. We also left the Senator with our list of 10 questions to consider what his reality would be like if his wife were to be considered as only a roommate, as many of our relationships are currently seen by the state of New York. The meeting felt fairly productive as his staffers genuinely wanted to hear our views and arguments for why marriage equality is important, and took notes while we were there which they will hopefully share with the Senator. Four other members of our van met with the Chief of Staff of Assemblyman Aubertine, who voted no when the bill passed the house. This meeting sounded slightly less productive as the staff member seemed more closed off the the important points in support of marriage equality that were made.
Following our morning meetings we went to make signs reading ‘Bring Freedom Home, Support Marriage Equality’ which we held up in the main square in downtown Watertown. This sign was a play on a lot of militaristic language that sounds familiar to all Americans these days, but especially to people living so close to a military base. The goal of the action was for our signs to be seen on the webcam that is streaming from that spot. Unfortunately they were unreadable on the internet because of the low resolution image of the square, however they were seen by the passing cars and pedestrians during the action. As we were leaving, we encountered two people. One was a woman vehemently opposed to LGBT rights, who was carrying her bible when she passed by and cornered two of our members to proselytize why we should have no rights at all. She did not seem entirely with it, however, so although we were hoping to draw the connections of our shared oppressions, it was not a possible conversation at that time. The other person was a member of Emmanuel Congregational Church, an open and affirming UCC church in town where we held a community forum later in the evening. He is a lawyer and has his office in the town arcade, and offered to let us put our marriage equality signs up in his office window, which we quickly agreed to. These two individuals had starkly opposed reactions to our presence and highlighted the extremes of viewpoints on the issue of marriage equality, and the importance of our presence here.
After our action at the town square and lunch, we went door knocking around town. We only had about an hour, with mixed results. Most people were not home, some were busy, but a few were interested and wanted literature and more information about getting involved. Next we headed to Emmanuel Congregational Church for a potluck with 10 or so church members and just spent time hanging out with them, including our wonderful hosts Joanne and her partner Diane, and Mary and her partner Linda. During the lull between dinner and the community forum, we had those present write personal letters to their representatives about why this issue is so important to them, because Senator Wright’s staff had indicated at our meeting in the morning that this is the most powerful and effective way to affect his standpoint on an issue. After dinner we had an amazing meeting with 20+ community members. First we shared our experiences with Soulforce Q and the Right to Marry campaign, and showed our newly completed documentary of our trip thus far. Then we talked about our meeting with their representatives, our shoe campaign regarding Senator Bruno, and opened the floor for discussion. The discussion that followed was powerful and inspiring. The people at the meeting had collectively gotten over 400 signatures in support of marriage equality, and were eager to hear more and get more involved. During the forum there were a lot of articulate and moving stories, one woman in particular causing most of us to tear up with her words. After the forum we got a few more interviews to add to our documentary, and everyone in the room felt more inspired and energized to keep working on this issue. I felt so grateful to our hosts and their loving faith community for their support and encouragement which helped reignite my own faith and hope for the future of our cause.

By Meg Sneed

This morning we packed up our belongings from our “home” in Plattsburgh and headed on a scenic drive to Lake Placid. When we arrived in town the streets where lined with people who were in town for the Ironman that was taking place that weekend in Lake Placid. We picked up a wedding cake and headed to main street in our “Do you believe in Marriage? I do.“ t-shirts and picked a spot near the water to start handing out wedding cake. With the cake we also handed out literature that explained the importance of Gay Marriage and how for us Marriage is not “A piece of cake”. Because it was iron man weekend giving away cake turned out to be a little more difficult than we first imagined, but even when people where unwilling to take a piece of cake they often took literature and were open to dialog with us.

We found that there were a lot of Canadians in town many of whom where shocked that in the U.S. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans do not have equal marriage rights. There was a man who walked by and said that he would take a piece of cake because he had voted yes on the bill, and it turned out to be an Assemblyman of the 121st district Al Stirpe. There was a mother and a daughter who stated that because of the Bible they could not be for Marriage Equality and they had an at length discussion with Brian and Matt about the Bible and homosexuality. We also spoke to many New Yorkers including two straight couples with young children who stated that they saw Marriage Equality as a Civil Rights Issue.

At the end of our day in Lake Placid we gave away 100 pieces of cake and handed out literature and started the conversation about Marriage Equality with New Yorkers, Canadians, and Americans from across the United States. From here we will be headed to Canton, New York.

Originally written by Cat Forrester

We left Albany and headed to Fort Edward to meet with Assemblyman Roy McDonald. However, he was not available to speak with us, so we spoke with his chief of staff, Mark Luciano. It was a fairly frustrating meeting, as Mark assured us that he understood and respected our cause, but still suggested that we should take a different tactic, faulting “touchy-feely” reasons, such as the relationship component of marriage, for the failure of the bill to be heard in the Senate or strongly supported in the Assembly. He also urged us to understand that while our struggle was totally valid, the political process and “the system” were working against us and offered to help advise us on how to improve our campaign.

We tried to convey to Mr. Luciano that the mission of Soulforce Q and of the Right to Marry Campaign is not solely to encourage the passage of this bill, but rather to talk to New Yorkers about marriage equality, and to change the hearts and minds of those opposed to equality in New York State.

Meeting with Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward in Glens Falls was a welcome follow-up to our meeting at Assemblyman McDonald’s office. Sayward was one of only four Republicans to vote yes on the marriage equality bill, and the only Republican co-sponsor. We brought her a vase of flowers in shades of purple and pink to show our appreciation of her support. She spoke to us about her gay son and shared her conviction that once you accept the premise that being GLBT is not a choice, it becomes clear that marriage equality is a civil rights issue and not a moral or religious issue. Meeting with her was both encouraging and inspiring.

After leaving Assemblywoman Sayward’s office, we piled in the van and headed to Plattsburgh, where we would be staying at the house of Jen and Staci and their daughter Amelia, who were offering up their home to us although they were out of town. Their friend Amanda let us into the house, pointing out the vegetable garden and the cat, O’Malley. Their house is beautiful and charming, and we have been infused with a new passion to help people like Staci, Jen and Amelia to be able to protect their family.

By Rob Fojtik

We met with Republican Assemblywoman Janet Duprey in Plattsburgh today, who had voted against marriage equality when Gov. Spitzer’s bill was up for a vote. She’s a good friend of Assemblywoman Sayward, and at the time of the vote, she was extremely torn on the issue. After the bill passed the lower house, she was quoted in a local newspaper as being completely for some legal recognition of same-sex relationships, such as civil unions, but said she would need more education on the issue of marriage per se.
Since that vote, she has been called, written to, and visited by many on the side of equality, and it seems she may be more educated if the bill is reintroduced in 2009 (it can still be voted on in the Senate in 2008 before it has to be reintroduced in the Assembly). She cited the American Academy of Pediatrics report on same-sex child rearing, in which the importance of marriage is extolled, as a major influence in her reconsideration of marriage equality. She wouldn’t promise a vote “yes” if there is a next time, but I think it is safe to say she will make a better-informed decision.
After meeting with Ms. Duprey, the Unitarian Universalists of Plattsburgh hosted us for a potluck barbeque and a showing of the documentary “I Can’t Marry You.” There was a pretty good turn out, and plenty of discussion. We left them with some buttons and some literature to pass out to their friends, and with any luck, people will keep this important discussion about equality going.

We spent our last day in Albany at the Saratoga County Fair, where we were met with a variety of reactions to our presence there. I spoke with several people who were entirely behind civil unions but took issue with the word “marriage.” Others refused entirely to talk with me because they were religious, while a few were totally behind the fight for marriage equality. I think we got a pretty good idea of what we should expect in the next week and a half in the North Country, and I am very excited by the challenge of changing people’s hearts and minds about my right to marry.
We also had the privilege of talking to a very nice computer engineer in the U.S. Marines who was there at the recruitment booth. I was reading a brochure on enlisting, and when she asked if I was interested in joining, I told her about my attempt to enlist in the Army Reserve last summer with Soulforce’s Right to Serve campaign. She personally had no objection to serving alongside an otherwise able college graduate, but unfortunately, the military is not a democracy; despite the overwhelming willingness of a majority of service members to work with openly gay and lesbian soldiers, the federal government continues to jeopardize the safety of our troops by overworking them and perpetuates the myth that gays and lesbians are inferior in combat (N.B. an estimated 65,000 servicemembers live in silence but fight with the best of our country’s best, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network).
We’ve compiled a list of some of our experiences below, some very positive and validating of our trip, others more challenging. Regardless, our stop at the fair definitely got people talking, and we did manage to get out some information to an area generally uninformed on LGBT issues.
-Rob Fojtik

Where Soulforce Q goes, questions follow. Maybe we bring them on ourselves. It’s as if we wear shirts that read, “Do you believe in marriage? I do.” on purpose to draw attention to ourselves.
We wore these shirts to the Saratoga County Fair to see what kinds of conversations we could stir up amongst the oxen and tractors and found that not all are ready to shake our hands but many are willing to wink on the sly or send a thumbs-up from across the ferris wheel.
This is Soulforce Q’s first civil disobedience-free campaign. As a co-director of the 2007 Equality Ride, I became used to my phone ring as an alarm call for Riders in jail or distress; this is not what I expected to hear on our first day out and about in the North Country.
By the time Alexey and I arrived on the ’scene’ our Riders had been asked to stop handing out literature to people who ask for it. We were also told that we could not pursue conversation. Cat asked if we were allowed to wear our shirts and as the security chief contemplated his response, I provided a ‘yes’ and asked that we leave the station. Soon after, Rob said that he was going to stash his literature in his pocket and the security chief suggested that we throw it away. Rest assured that no literature was thrown away today! Like our rights, I try to keep educational resources OUT of the trash.
-Katie Higgins

Today we met a woman who has been married for 43 years, and is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She told us a story about a family friend who is with her partner, and together they had raised an adopted child, as well as a biological child. She was unsure how their relationship was affected by New York not allowing them the right to marry. She was unaware of the costs of a second parent adoption and the long legal process through which a same-gender couple must go. She was also unaware of the inability to visit a sick partner in a time of crisis. After speaking with her, she wished us well on our journey and fight for marriage equality.
-Meg Sneed

One of the most rewarding parts of today was the affirming people we met, especially the ones who took us by surprise. A woman running one of the games at the Saratoga County Fair told us about her gay brother and took a button. On our way out, the sheriffs at their booth asked us to take a survey, but instead ended up asking us about our t-shirts. We were asked to tell all of the sheriffs about the Right to Marry campaign.
On our way out after enlisting a young woman to take our picture outside of the fairgrounds, another young woman approached us to ask for a button for herself and her mother. Despite the rain and some frustration at the earlier attempts by the county fair officials to prevent us from talking to people, the fair was a rewarding experience for me because it showed me that people were really genuinely interested and that our visibility here is important.
-Cat Forrester

A woman working at a concessions stand handed us our chips, winked and said, “By the way, I really appreciate your matching shirts”…
The high school students working as parking attendants at the fair came up to us and asked about our T-shirts. They were excited about our presence there and asked if there was anything they could do. It was great to see them directing traffic with Right to Marry buttons on their rain ponchos!
-Alexey Bulokhov

At the Saratoga County Fair, I was pleasantly surprised with the mostly positive response regarding marriage equality from people in attendance. I mostly talked to older people, parents and grandparents, with mixed results. As a person who works with children, however, my real interest is in the youth. So, as rewarding as those conversations were, it was at the end of the fair that I felt the most fulfilled, when a teenage girl approached me and wanted Soulforce Q Right to Marry pins for herself and her mother. Knowing that she and her family appreciated that we were there and the work we were doing gave me a sense of the impact of our presence at their country fair. Later in the evening I found out that other teenagers at the fair had noticed our presence and called a local LGBT youth leader to explain how excited they had been to see us and that they wanted to get involved with our campaign. As a result of our presence at the fair, a couple of 18 year-olds who saw us there will be accompanying us tomorrow to talk to their representatives!
-Kalil Cohen

Well, we really didn’t meet with “the man.” We actually met with his staff, but the experience was a good one. On Monday, the young activists of the North Van trekked to the New York State Capitol Building in order to kickoff the Right to Marry Campaign to address issues surrounding marriage equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the State of New York. We met with Rebecca Rodriguez, the Legislative Fellow in charge of human and civil rights for Senate Majority Leader, Senator Joe Bruno.

Initially, we had been unable to schedule a meeting with the Senator’s office at all. The meeting on Monday came as a pleasant surprise, although we wished we had been able to meet with the Senator himself.

During the meeting we discussed many issues. Brian Murphy, a native of Maryland who is moving to New York City in the near future, spoke of how his ability to marry will affect his life as a person and as a future citizen of the state.

When it was my turn to speak I called upon higher American ideals of liberty and equality, explaining to Ms. Rodriguez that American jurisprudence has shown that the promise of “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” includes the right to marry a person of one’s own choosing. I urged Ms. Rodriguez to remind Senator Bruno that his duty as an elected official in this great nation includes ensuring and guaranteeing every citizen the right to life, liberty and happiness.

We were happy to know that Ms. Rodriguez actually had no personal problem with marriage equality for all citizens, although she stressed that it was important for us to continue pushing a conversation within the community. We urged her to remind Senator Bruno that no amount of conversation in the citizenry will matter if their legislators ignore what we feel is among some of the most important matters which affect personally the everyday lives and loves of LGBT people.

Near the end of the meeting Brian offered what would be the beginning of what – we hope – is a massive state-wide campaign empowering the citizens of New York to tell Senator Bruno their personal stories about why marriage is important to them. Brian offered Senator Bruno a pair of his shoes, along with his personal story, asking the Senator to “Walk a Mile a in my Shoes.”

Video from the April 4, 2007, Equality Ride visit to the campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.

This video is the longest of all our videos so far, but there was just absolutely so much material to cover in the video. I cut it down to as short as I could get it and still feel comfortable with the final product. Sorry if it is a bit choppy in some parts… some of the editing was done on the bus, haha.

Our break from the road and from work couldn’t have come at a better time really. We pulled into the suburbs of Charleston, South Carolina, on Maundy Thursday, the day Christians celebrate Christ’s Last Supper before His trial and crucifixion on Good Friday.

We were visiting the home of Katie Higgins’ parents. Katie is one of our co-directors. It was an awesome chance to sit back in the warm sun, drink some tea and soda, eat some wonderfully tasty food and relax.

It was also a chance to come together as one community. Despite our many diverse faith backgrounds, belief systems and opinions, we have throughout the Ride been able to come together as one family, in love and mutual respect.

Just after dinner, three other Riders and I gathered and planned out a Maundy Thursday Eucharist service for all of us Riders and for Katie’s family. We gathered in Katie’s kitchen, turned the kitchen table into the Altar of God and gathered the required materials, including bread and wine.

In one voice and in one heart, folks from all walks of life joined together in this beautiful liturgy, beautiful music and in the Communion of our Lord. Quite honestly, it was a moving and emotional event.

Being on the road and working for so long, there aren’t many times during which we all just get to sit and relax. Even less often do we find the time to enter into an intentional, spiritual community in the worship of God.

I am thankful we had the time. I am thankful we had the spirit. Since childhood, a worship experience has always been one which renews me and keeps me going. I think many of the Riders felt the same way in Charleston and I’m thankful God gave us the time and ability to be together and worship Him.