National Tour of Christian Colleges Advocates Safety for Gay and Transgender Students
******************************************
SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE: November 4, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Caitlin MacIntyre, Equality Ride Media Director
Cell: 612-715-6138
caitlin@equalityride.com
******************************************
(Conway, AR) — Yesterday, the Equality Ride, a youth-organized bus tour that travels to faith-based universities to create a dialogue about faith and fairness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, visited Central Baptist College. Upon their arrival, Riders were met by President Kimbrow, who informed Riders that they were not permitted onto campus and that they would be arrested for trespassing if they proceeded. Riders remained in vigil outside of CBC property as members of the community joined them in front of the school.
At 11:00, four Riders who hoped to speak to the students who were gathered on campus property were arrested for trespassing. The Riders were Lauren Parke of Seattle, WA; Alex Lundy of Syosset, NY; Katie Higgins of Minneapolis, MN; and Enzi Tanner of Minneapolis, MN. They were released this afternoon after posting bail.
“It is unfortunate that the school chose to deny us the opportunity to create dialogue on campus. We feel that the message of safety and inclusion for all students, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender is too important to be limited by property lines,” Alex Lundy, one of the arrested Riders and the organizer of the Central Baptist stop explains.
Following the arrests, students started approaching the Equality Riders to begin discussions. Numerous students remained in conversations with Riders about religion, gender, and sexuality for the remainder of the day. The Equality Riders were joined by students from nearby Hendrix College and by Arkansas residents Bob and Mary Lou Wallner, who are featured in the film For the Bible Tells Me So.
“We tried to get students to understand our shared humanity and realize the oppression and pain that students on their campus are facing because of the policies and beliefs of Central Baptist College. Through building relationships, we hope to create an environment of discussion that continues after the Equality Ride has left campus,” says Katie Higgins, Equality Ride co-director.
The Equality Ride plans to return to campus on Friday, when the Baptist Missionionary Association will be meeting on campus, to have a vigil at Central Baptist in hopes of engaging some leadership in the organization about the damaging effects of religious oppression.
The Equality Ride bus is on the road through November 13, 2008. Future stops include:
Nov. 5 Ouachita Baptist University Arkadelphia, AR
Nov. 10-11 Union University Jackson, TN
Nov. 13 Simmons College of Kentucky Louisville, KY
Soulforce Q is the young adult division of Soulforce, a social justice organization that works to end political and religious oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through relentless nonviolent resistance. For more information, go to www.equalityride.com.
###