Time has flown by. It is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we were all preparing for this journey. Now it is nearly half over. At the same time, it also feels like we have been on the Ride a long time. We have had so many emotions and new experiences it is hard to really explain, but here goes.

In early March when the Ride pulled out from Minneapolis, we were filled with anticipation. We all felt an uncertainty but at the same time were very excited about what the future had in store for us. Unfortunately after the Eastbound bus had been less than 24 hours on the road, we experienced our first encounter with hate. Our bus was vandalized and some very hateful messages were written on it. This did not stop us though, we continued on to our first stop which turned into a great stop. The stop ended with students apologizing for things they had said in the past and thanking us for coming with the message of love that we bring everywhere we go.

The next stop brought different emotions. At Central Bible College we were completely ignored all day except for the large police presence there to keep us off campus. The day was hardly a waste, though, because even though the administration prevented the students from speaking to us they could not prevent them from seeing us from their windows, standing in silent witness.

The next stop, at Oklahoma Baptist University, was similar in that we were not able to go on campus there either. We spent two days and were denied access to chapel and to their student body. This proved to be a trying stop for many of us because it did involve us being turned away from church, a place that should be open to all.

The next school brought an important lesson in false hospitality. While we were not prevented from coming on campus, we were stopped as soon as we spoke for those Baylor students whose voices had been silenced. This was not a welcome, but was barely tolerance. On the good side of things, we were able to see the students of Baylor empowered and become committed to LGBT equality at Baylor.

Mississippi brought new challenges, including challenges to our first amendment rights. But we kept on and ended up talking to a lot of students and were able share our message of inclusive love of all God’s creations.

Next we ventured into Kentucky. In Louisville, we sat-in at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, to show that we will not allow people like Albert Mohler to dehumanize us or call into question our right to exist as we have been created.

Then we were on to the University of the Cumberlands, where we experienced real violations of our rights. We were to keep moving on the sidewalks, in groups of no more than three, under threat of arrest if we stopped moving. This really taught us the true meaning voluntary redemptive suffering. Like stops prior, it was worth it because for the 3 or 4 hours we walked back and forth on the sidewalk, we had students with us walking, talking, and listening.

This brings us to our most recent stop at Samford University. They were the third school to let us on. We really had a great day with the students and, like at Baylor, we were able to empower the student to take on the struggle for LGBT equality at Samford.

With half the ride over, we are hopeful for the future. The past few weeks have been mixed with good and bad experience, but every experience has been worth it, because everywhere we have gone we have seen people that have changed and been empowered by our presence. As long as we have truth and love on our side, nothing we do will be in vain, because truth and love always win in the end.

Today at Montreat was great, especially as our fourth school visit that welcomed us on as guests to talk with students. We arrived in Montreat, a hamlet in the mountains of North Carolina, at 7:00 am. During our campus tour we learned that Montreat was not only a school, but also a convention center and small town. All property in Montreat is privately owned, so it was quite fortunate for us that it was a welcoming school. The campus is beautiful, mainly composed of stone from the surrounding region. After our tour, we were allowed to spend time on campus and talk to students. This is always a bit of a nervous time for me, wondering if students will want to talk at all, but of course there are always more students wanting to talk to us than we could possibly meet in one day. Montreat has fewer than 500 students at their main campus, and I feel like we met more than half of them.
Unfortunately, while some at the school were welcoming, we did not get to meet all the students who hoped to speak to us. Several members of the girls’ softball team advocated for our visit and were excited about us coming. We were told that, in response, the school changed the game schedule sending the girls to an away game. Had they missed the game, scholarships would have been lost. Even though we didn’t get to meet them, I do hope the friends we met and the change we made will help them in the end.
I had an amazing conversation with one student over breakfast. The only exposure he really had to LGBT people before was a lesbian couple who were his neighbors growing up. Although they had been rejected from their church, he remembered that they were amazingly devoted Christians. We talked about classes and theology and such, but I think he was surprised to learn that many of the Riders are Gay Christians. He was even further surprised that we hold that being LGBT and Christian are not, and should not be in conflict. I don’t think he really understood until he heard our stories and how we came to our conclusions though. For me, it comes down to loving God and loving my neighbor as myself. I shared with him that while I was closeted, I spent so much time and energy being afraid and self-loathing that there was no way I could have the energy to really love. Just like any relationship, if we don’t love ourselves it makes it impossible to show true love to others, including God.
We hung out for the rest of the day, met other students and played foosball. Many of the other students I met had spoken to other Equality Riders earlier in the day and came to me with specific questions, clarifications, or just to thank me for coming to campus. We heard throughout the day that some students were not happy we were there, but most of my interactions were really positive.
At 2:00 we went to the presentation where members of our group spoke and presented on spiritual violence and how often violence of the tongue often leads to physical and emotional violence. As Matt later summed up, “As people who have been violated, had violence committed against us from religious representatives, we only asked that they listen to us for once and hear our stories from our perspective.” Unfortunately, the faculty chosen to speak in response didn’t really listen. One professor, in fact, presented an extensive paper he had written on why we are wrong and, as “unrepentant homosexuals” should be disciplined or excommunicated from the church. I found his paper rooted in traditional patriarchy found in far too many communities. Basically, gay and lesbian relationships do not allow a woman to properly submit to a man “as the church submits to Christ,” which, according to this perspective, is the entire purpose for women having been created at all. He also challenged our view of love, showing that Christ himself rebuked those doing wrong. In an ironic turn, he read how Jesus refuted the Pharisees for turning people away for legalistic reasons that were actually the opposite of the law Jesus lived and fulfilled. I think the irony was lost on him, however.
Luckily, like at the other schools we visited, many students were able to see our basic humanity. Even those who yet may not be able to agree with us theologically were able to understand that exclusion and spiritual violence have divided and hurt the Body of Christ and were able to see us as fellow Christians and people.
After our school visit, we went to a dinner hosted by the local Unitarian Universalist Church, which several students attended. We were able to recap our day with students and really begin to see the lasting impact our visit will have on the campus. Bringing the movement for LGBT equality directly to the Montreat campus and providing examples of young gay and transgender people who take their faith and lives seriously will prove to be a great service to the students we met and the entire community.

“The queers are here! Where are the preachers?” they screamed at the unusually still fortress. Their tongues unsheathed, dozens of fuming protesters crowded the streets in front of Bob Jones University triumphantly waving signs of hatred and hypocrisy; all of them were terribly misguided in mistaking discrimination for faith. But with love in our hearts and good news in our hands, we stood as outcasts before the institution someone had called “the last bastion of holy, righteous decency in America”. We stood before the school that told us there was no room for dialogue. We stood as preachers and prophets.

This was it, our tenth stop. The still, South Carolina air was heavy with history, with tension. And our hearts were pounding as our spirits united in song. No one could turn us around. This was it, Bob Jones University. The school had long been on trial for its questionable practices and prejudiced doctrine. For eighty years oppressive tradition had been masquerading as truth. And that distorted paradigm firmly sustained sexism, racism, endogamy, and homophobia. But, just as waves shape the shore, we began to vigil before the university with every intention of touching and changing lives. At first we waited in unspoken reflection to mirror the silence of gay and transgender students. And then we began to sing, our voices bearing messages of hope and amazing grace. We sang to them, for them, and with them.

As curious students watched, one Equality Rider stepped forward and calmly entered the front gate carrying artwork that depicted her suffering within the church. Like a cruel joke, she was arrested, testimony of past rejection in hand. Immediately thereafter, a second followed suit. And then, a third did the same. While we stood in solidarity along the sidewalk, three young women took historic steps towards a shared dream of justice. While we stood in solidarity, three women were cited, not for crossing boundaries, but for challenging the sophism that holds them in place.

Christianity, as ministry of reconciliation, is ideally good news. It encourages a genuine unity that necessitates love, understanding, and ultimately, dialogue. However, in our relentless pursuit of these goals, we were labeled “evil and wicked” by those claiming to be Christian. We were shunned by Bob Jones University, a professedly Christian academy, for preaching inclusion. We were condemned by individuals for questioning their judgments. But most importantly, we stood as witnesses before humanity of the injustice that is soon to end.

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.

Given the emphasis evangelical Christianity places on refraining from “tampering” or medically manipulating a developing fetus, Albert Mohler’s comments several weeks ago were that much more disconcerting. Through his personal website, Mohler (president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) conceded that were a biological “cause” for homosexuality to be discovered, “treatment” of the unborn child to prevent adulthood same-sex attraction would be a parent’s moral obligation. In effect, this is eugenics—the concerted effort to eliminate a group of people through a variety of measures.

Immediately after publishing these statements, Mohler received sharp criticism from a variety of human rights and LGBT organizations. Surprisingly, he also faced heat from many conservative Christians for implying that there even could be a biological cause for homosexuality.

Originally Union University was slated to be our stop after Mississippi College, but given Mohler’s inflammatory and bigoted remarks, we decided that SBTS was the place we needed to be. Our mission was quite simple—hold a sit-in at the seminary until Mohler recanted his statement and made a public apology.

We arrived that morning at about ten am, hustling quickly off of the bus and towards the campus’ main building which housed Mohler’s office. We didn’t know what to expect. Ultimately, twelve of us were arrested and spent the better part of the day in jail.

Easter was a rare jewel in the life of an Equality Rider. We were given consecutive days off for the first time since we began over a month before. Life as an Equality Rider had kept us busy. Being the season of Easter I was especially excited as a Christian to be once again celebrating the resurrection of Christ. It was an extra special time for me since my Parents drove to visit me during that time. With the Equality Ride being on break we were able to spend the full weekend together without worrying about school events or community engagements. I love them but after a school like Bob Jones it was a welcomed vacation.

One of the hardest things about being an Equality Rider is being away from your family, friends, and church. Being away from that on a holiday on the 2006 Equality Ride made it a hard day for me so it meant a lot to me to be with my parents this year. They were able to get to know many of the friends I have spent the last month with and became my new family.

It was also extra special to spend that time on the side of an ocean. I have always found so much peace and serenity in water so being able to worship and celebrate the resurrection there was powerful. I found myself sitting on the shore looking into the majesty of the ocean and reflecting on how small we are beside the ocean and how still Christ loved us enough to be the ultimate sacrifice for us. It also helped me to debrief the Equality Ride up until that point and begin processing everything we had been through as a group. It helped me reflect on having the people I love separated from the group for nights in jail and community service. It helped me to clear my mind and begin to reflect from my own 16 hours in jail in Kentucky. In the same spirit of resurrection I strove to rest and wake up refreshed and renewed ready to go out and confront the injustice and attempt to resurrect that love Christ died for.

Yesterday morning the Equality Ride drove up a windy mountain road to Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. It was a beautiful place, with morning mist and a now routine scene of police cars and officers lined up in anticipation of our arrival. They gave us the warning: step onto Covenant College’s grass and you will be arrested.

We lined up at the curb and stood looking up the hill at a distant hedge with little student faces peeking over. Someone waved. We waved back, and then more and more people waved. After a while a couple guys walked down and struck up a conversation. A couple more followed. Eventually we had fifty or so—at least two Covenant students for each rider.

They said some typical things about disagreeing with the administration’s response to our visit and desiring to show a more Christian hospitality. Many
people came down looking for specific members of our group, because they have read about us online and adopted us for their prayer groups. They even brought us boxed lunches and water, and it was fantastic food.

The two men who talked to me were interesting and remarkably different. The first told me that he wanted to leave because of the expectation for blind adhesion to dogmatic rules. The other talked about the importance of living by law and in obedience to the church, and said that new revelations from God will only exist in the forms prophesied in the Bible. I couldn’t figure out how the change in stance on race, gender equality, divorce, or even the nature of sexual orientation (it used to be a choice and a sin to be gay, now it’s not a choice but still a sin) fit into that rubric of Biblical prophesy, or how someone could accept the value of those changes without being open to new ones. He didn’t get a chance to explain because I left with a reporter.

The reporter wanted to interview me because I was one of four people planning to deliver a covenant to the administration. The covenant followed the form of the school’s own covenant and described our ideals for the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.

I was a bit hesitant for a minute to go through with this plan. It was pretty clear that we would be arrested and I was having good conversations, which is
our goal. I went back to my conversation, though, and the legalist told me about his gay friend at the top of the hill who wanted to come talk to us but didn’t have the nerve. Some other people nearby were continuing to express their shock that we weren’t actually allowed on campus. I asked the first, disillusioned student how his impression of us would change if we broke the trespassing restriction. He said that it would improve, and that he was almost
willing to walk beside me.

Jarrett Lucas, Adam Britt, Rachel Loskill and I read the covenant aloud and then walked toward the administrator who had specifically made the arrangements for the day. He had so far avoided any contact with us. Other staff had come out to our place on the asphalt, but he had stayed far off on the grass.

We didn’t make it more than twenty feet before the police caught our wrists and put the flexi-cuffs on. We rode down the winding road in the back of a van
with little circular holes in the door. I have heard that Covenant students carried on the discussion all day in a local café.

The four of us got booked into jail quickly, and settled into two cells (one male and one female). We each had a vinyl mat and a blanket, which was nice.
The cell was a cinderblock room with a high ceiling, florescent lights, a toilet, and a concrete bench. We briefly had a companion who was arrested for driving with a suspended license, but for the most part it was just me and Rachel alone for 21 hours. The food was okay. It came twice in Styrofoam take-out containers. The noises were very jail-appropriate: keys turning, big metal doors slamming, some profanity, a few cowboy imitations, and people pacing up and down and talking.

I dreamt that I was in jail, and woke up in jail. Rachel and I stretched and I stood on my head. We both handled the experience very well; never got in a bad mood or got tired of each other.

This morning a judge magistrate made out our bonds and the bus came to pick us up. We went through the gauntlet of hugs and hit the road again, and now we’re driving to Greensville, South Carolina to visit Bob Jones University.

This is Greg. I’m sorry to announce that we’re calling off the Equality Ride because we’re all just too tired, and we ran out of chocolate chip cookies.

So, ya. Happy April Fools’ day, everyone. We’re doing well, and we’ve been getting some great community meals and support along the way.

Today I’m writing about our visit to the University of the Cumberlands. Three days ago, when I was writing in my journal about the visit, I wrote thirteen handwritten pages. I don’t think you want to read my sprawling ramblings, but needless to say – I’ve a lot to say about our March, 28 visit to Williamsburg, KY. It was a day where riders and students showed their ability to overcome any obstacle, a day of dialogue, and a day of progress in the form of painful, hard-earned, growth.

When we pulled up to the front of the University of the Cumberlands on a gloomy March morning, we were met by about 45 policemen that refused to let us off the bus until the president of the university used our bus speaker system to accuse our stop coordinators of turning down an offer to come onto campus. Matt Hill was a bit more cordial than I would have been in that situation, and he apologized for the possible miscommunication. We never turn down an offer to attend campuses peacefully and fairly, and are always ready to work with administrations. But, the president insisted that we were the ones being hard to get along with, and he informed us that we were not welcome to his campus even though we still wished to talk peacefully with students, as if the excessive police force didn’t already clue us in.

So, we filed off the bus, and were told by the police that we couldn’t stand on the public sidewalk. We were all a bit surprised; this was not a situation any of us had encountered before. The officers told us we had to “keep moving.” Their stated reason was, if we stopped on the sidewalk, then we would be obstructing city traffic. Determined to avoid arrest and share our message with the university students, we obeyed their questionable demands. Walking up and down the sidewalk on the side of the street opposite the university, we carried our banner and our Bibles, raising our voices to sing “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” “Stayed on Equality,” and “Amazing Grace.” Officers ran to follow us as we walked down the sidewalk, making sure that we kept moving – back and forth, back and forth. This kind of harassment continued all day, even when we arrived in front of the courthouse to prepare for our rally.

Students and community watched from newly green lawns, cool porches, or the steps of school buildings. As we sang, more people came to watch the brouhaha with all the onlookers, the riders, the singing, and the police. We broke off into small groups to walk on the sidewalk and talk to students. Despite, and possibly in spite of constant harassment by the police, students and riders conversed with each other. For example, two riders stopped on the sidewalk to talk to students sitting on the steps of a university building, and a policeman came and stood in between the two riders and the students. He crossed his arms, and said with a frown on his face, “Y’all can’t stop on this sidewalk.” The students got up and followed the riders. Throughout the morning, everyone was walking and talking, sometimes two or three students to one or two riders.

Well, not everyone walked and talked. Jake Reitan got arrested for having a toe in the grass after scolding the officers for violating our constitutional rights. After seeing the injustice of the situation, three University of the Cumberlands students were arrested soon after Jake for standing on the sidewalk and refusing to move. The university President watched, and even talked to the last of the students to be arrested. When I became dizzy, the head of campus ministries offered to sit with me, even if that meant getting arrested by the police. Eventually, we were warned to resume walking. Some students chose not to talk, one young man chose to express himself by wearing some bikini underwear and a shirt that said, “I <3 BJs.” He got a lot of laughs out of both students and police, many of which were standing across the street on the sidewalk.

After a rainy lunch, there was a rally at the courthouse. Curious community members, high school students, college students, police, city officials, counter protesters, and riders all assembled together to see what the stop coordinators, Bronwen Tomb and Matt Hill, had to say. Jason Johnson spoke eloquently about being kicked out of the University of the Cumberlands for being gay. He assuaged the conscience of the audience and related to them the unexpectedness of being expelled from the university during the middle of his last semester before a planned transfer. The rally and the day ended with words of thanks. Jordan Palmer of Kentucky Equality had brought refreshments to the rally and purchased our hotel rooms, and his mother Nancy had cooked us an amazing chili dinner, which was hosted in the St. Clair church of Berea.

Throughout the day, we brought the message that Christians can be right with God and be gay, that gay Christians live joyful lives full of health and companionship when they overcome spiritual oppression, and that the University of the Cumberlands should stop promoting the sins of self-loathing, suicide, hate, bigotry, and discrimination against its gay students. Even if they didn’t agree with our contextual biblical arguments, many students and faculty listened to what we had to say. In the end, they could not dispute our life stories and our witness.

I am quite certain that dialogue will continue in the sleepy town of Williamsburg, KY. As one high school student said to me on the street, “Do you realize that you just dropped a bomb on one of the most homophobic places on earth?” This makes me smile as I contemplate the fact that, despite the antagonism of the administration and police, students and faculty sought conversation. Three university students were even willing to stand on the sidewalk and be arrested to support the rights of all U.S. citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The gay citizens of Williamsburg gained a voice and some powerful new allies, and it became apparent that the University of the Cumberlands is more concerned about Southern Baptist legalism than serving its students or furthering the Christian message by showing Christ’s love and compassion to the world.