N&R: ‘Student raising money for gay rights’
by Matt | February 15th, 2007 |)
From Thursday’s Greensboro News & Record (which sadly was not put online, hence I’m typing the entire article out):
Student raising money for gay rights
A downtown fundraiser Friday will help cover the $400,000 cost of this year’s “Equality Ride”
by Tom Steadman, Staff Writer
Thursday, February 15, 2007, B3Greensboro - Last year, UNCG sophomore Matt Hill Comer journeyed to Lynchburg, Va., to show support for gay rights activists visiting Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University during a bus trip modeled after the 1960s Freedom Riders.
Next month, Comer will be riding himself, aboard one of two buses embarking on the 2007 “Equality Ride,” which will stop at 32 colleges from coast to coast. The schools - ranging from Brigham Young University in Utah and Bob Jones University in South Carolin - generally are religiously oriented campuses not necessarily friendly to gay issues.
“Our goal is to go on these campuses and start a dialogue,” said Comer, who is from Winston-Salem. “This dialogue needs to happen.”
To help pay the $400,000 cost of the trip, he and the other 55 riders are trying to raise $3,500 each via donations.
That’s why Comer will stage a fundraiser Friday night in downtown Greensboro that features a documentary film about the 2006 ride and a performance by the Triad Pride Men’s Chorus.
The bus trips are sponsored by Soulforce, a national non-profit group with a stated aim of ending political and religious persecution of sexual minorities through nonviolent means.
“Many of these schools have policies which ban homosexuals,” said Haven Herrin, co-director of a Soulforce division focusing on youth activism.
“That leads to gays and lesbians being marginalized,” Herrin said. “We come to offer a dialogue and a different point of view.”
Donations will help Soulforce pay for the trip, including possible bail money, Herrin said. During the trip last year, riders were arrested on trespassing charges at seven campuses that refused them admittance.
Contact Tom Steadman at 373-7351 or tsteadman@news-record.com
Want to Go?
- What: Social/fundraiser for 2007 Equality Ride
- When: 7-9p.m. Fruday at The Biltmore Greensboro Hotel, 111 W. Washington St.
- Admission: $25 donation suggested
Mr. Steadman did an unquestionably fabulous job with the piece. Short, concise, accurate and very positive, overall. No complaints here.
Technorati Tags: Matt Hill Comer, Tom Steadman, News & Record, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Soulforce, Equality Ride, Biltmore Hotel, Haven Herrin, Brigham Young University, BYU, Bob Jones University
2 Responses to “N&R: ‘Student raising money for gay rights’”
Hope the article helps you achieve your goal.
By Alan down in Florida on Feb 15, 2007
Thank you very much Alan. Indeed, I have heard from a few people who hadn’t known about the Equality Ride before and who may show up to the fundraiser. See… the day before any event is the day to start realizing that maybe you didn’t plan well enough for the amount of people who’d show up without R.S.V.P.-ing, lol (just kidding!)
By Matt on Feb 15, 2007