We are not “protesters,” “squads” or “comrades’

by Matt | March 17th, 2007 |

The Waco newspaper, The Waco Tribune-Herald, published an article today (Saturday, March 17, 2007), detailing the Equality Ride East Route’s visit to Baylor University on Monday, March 19, 2007.

Talk about twisting and spinning; They make us sound like militant commie homos.

The key spinned words, you ask? “Protesters.” “Squads.” “Comrades.” “Band [of activists].” “…an 8-week ‘mission’.”

Urgh.

Read for more (or you can Listen to the article here), including our schedule of events (which they so graciously printed for us):

Equality Riders to protest ‘religious oppression’ of gays Monday in Waco
Saturday, March 17, 2007
By Terri Jo Ryan
Tribune-Herald staff writer

A bus carrying some 30 homosexual rights activists will stop at Baylor University on Monday to protest what they term the “religious oppression” of sexual minorities.

They come from Soulforce Equality Ride, a Virginia-based interfaith social justice organization that works to end “religious oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance.”

While they are in town, the protesters will take part in a rally downtown at Heritage Square at 4 p.m. Monday, followed by a community potluck dinner at the Eddie & Velma Dwyer Community Center, 507 Jefferson Ave. A press conference has been scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday at University-Parks Drive and Dutton Avenue.

The Rev. Charley Garrison, pastor of Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church From The Heart, will play host to the gathering. He said donations will be solicited to help the Equality Riders continue their journey.

The Soulforce squads — two buses carrying about 30 each, on different routes — set out March 7 on an eight-week mission to 32 Christian colleges and universities. Their purpose, said spokeswoman Paige Schilt, is to engage students, faculty and administrators “in conversation” about the damaging effects of policies that silence or exclude LGBT students.

While some schools have indicated they will welcome the riders and the opportunity for respectful dialogue, others have announced that they will arrest activists for trespassing, she added. According to a Thursday statement on the Web site Soulforce.org, at Baylor, “Equality Riders are being allowed onto campus as guests of students.”

However, Dub Oliver, Baylor’s vice president for student life, said Thursday that Soulforce asked for an invitation in December, and when that was declined, indicated in late January that Equality Riders would come anyway. The two groups have had limited contact since then, he added.

“We respect their right to hold their views and state those, but we ask them to respect our rights to our views and to respect our campus,” Oliver said. “We’re committed to treating them with Christian grace and love. I’ve encouraged staff to be in prayer for them.”

Graffiti and arrests

Activists have already faced a less-than-welcome reception at some of their stops. The East Route riders — the same band headed to Baylor on Monday — awoke in Iowa on March 8 to find their bus had been defaced overnight with obscene graffiti and anti-gay slurs.

Two straight women on the ride were arrested Monday for attempting to enter the campus of Central Bible College in Springfield, Mo. Five more were arrested Wednesday at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee when they walked onto the campus and tried to talk to students.

Their comrades on the West Route ride have fared little better: Six were arrested March 9 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

For more information on the activists and their itinerary, visit Soulforce.org.

tjryan@wacotrib.com

Technorati Tags: Soulforce, Equality Ride, Waco, Texas, Baylor University

Posted in Soulforce/Equality Ride |