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.