The South is just full of ‘em: Arkansas Equality Ride media

Yesterday I posted portions of a news piece on Equality Rider Joey Heath, from Georgia.

Today comes another news piece featuring Adam Britt and Jeremy Gabbard, from Arkansas’ Henderson State University:

Over the years, “sexual minorities” have struggled to gain equality around the globe.

Now, Jeremy Gabbard and Adam Britt - both of whom are Henderson students - are taking a stand by participating in an event called the Equality Ride.

…

The Equality Ride was inspired by the Freedom Rides of the 1960’s.

It is composed of 56 young LGBT adults from colleges around the country who have been chosen to ride buses to 32 colleges to educate and change student’s and faculty’s minds about issues relating to queers.

“Queer is a general umbrella term for any sexuality that isn’t the norm (e.g. gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, genderqueer, two-spirited, asexual, etc…)” said Gabbard, senior chemistry major.

Not all of the schools are empathetic and receptive to the riders.

“Sometimes they will restrict us to one classroom at the back of a building or put us out in the middle of a field, with a hill of dirt and some rocks.” Adam Britt, sophomore theatre major, said.

Britt also founded Henderson’s Queer-Straight Alliance.

Some schools - private and even public - attempt to have the Equality Riders arrested.

However, because of the organization’s previous experiences, they generally know which schools are hostile to the group, so they are able to plan accordingly.

The issue of queer minorities really is no different than the issue of other minorities, racial or otherwise.

While the Equality Ride is a non-violent organization, they are often met with ridicule, and even violence.

Read the full article at Henderson State University’s student paper, The Oracle.

Adam will be on the East Bus with me, while Jeremy will be a Rider on the West Bus.

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