UNCG Student Matt Hill Comer, who was arrested for trespassing with other protestors at Liberty University, Va.

UNCG Student Arrested During Peaceful Protest

Elliot Laffey

Posted: 4/4/06

On March 10, a UNCG student was arrested, along with 23 other students from various campuses across the nation, during a nonviolent protest for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student rights at Liberty University in Virginia.

Liberty University was the first of 19 nationwide campus visits for Soulforce's Equality Ride, inspired by the Freedom Ride of 1961, when the Supreme Court's ruling against discrimination was tested.

Matt Hill Comer, 20, at this time was campaigning to become UNCG SGA vice-president and was arrested and charged with trespassing, a class one misdemeanor in Virginia. He is represented by Soulforce attorneys and faces maximum punishment of a $2500 fine or one year in prison.

"Nothing's going to change politically," Comer said, "until we change the way people think about these issues. And people's thought processes are rooted in the prejudices that are taught to them through religion."

Soulforce is an organization with a mission against spiritual violence. According to Soulforce's website, spiritual violence is "the misuse of religion to sanction the condemnation and rejection of any of God's children."

Liberty University was founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell, notorious for his closed door policies against the LGBT community. Forty years ago, according to Comer, Falwell did not allow African Americans into his church.

Comer added, "Forty years ago, he [Falwell] also said that the Civil Rights Movement was the 'Civil Wrongs Movement.'"

As the student activists walked onto the Liberty University campus, they read a statement that started,

"We come to Liberty University today seeking to foster understanding. Understanding that the Bible has been used for centuries to exclude and discriminate. The Inquisitions, the Crusades, the justification for slavery, the second-class status of women, and the rejection of the disabled are all examples of biblical misuse."

At 9 a.m., Equality Ride first met at a church in Lynchburg, Va. The principles of a nonviolent protest were reviewed, before the group of about 100 people rallied outside the university. At noon, when 24 of the protestors attempted to walk on campus, they were quickly arrested and taken to the Lynchburg district jail building.

According to Equality Ride's website, 34 young adult students, have taken a semester off to visit 19 schools across the nation in a period of 51 days.

The second stop for Equality Ride was Pat Robertson's University. Robertson, a colleague of Falwell's, also decided to have the group arrested. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Equality Ride faced even more arrests, though in both occurrences the number arrested was much less than the 24 at Liberty University.

Texas A&M University, which has the largest military cadet program, allowed the protestors on campus. No arrests were made. Military schools are on Equality Ride's agenda because they too have a policy to turn away openly gay students.

"For a gay or lesbian student," Comer said, "the fact that someone totally unaffiliated would risk being arrested - that's going to mean a lot to those students who have no voice on these campuses."

Comer said the catch phrase for Equality Ride is, "Learn from history and end religious oppression."

He added, "If Jesus Christ had been the Chancellor of Liberty University, he would've let us on campus that day."

The protest aired March 25, on MTV. More information about Equality Ride can be found at:http://www.equalityride.com