Three protesters face charges

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Uncredited, The Times Daily

Florence, AL — Three protestors were arrested Friday on allegations they were trespassing on the campus of Heritage Christian University to deliver letters requesting tolerance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

The three people arrested by Florence police on the misdemeanor charges were from Houston, Charleston, S.C., and Bronx, N.Y.

The three were part of Equality Ride, a group that has toured nationwide and met with college administrators to discuss better acceptance of gay and transgender students.

"(Heritage Christian) trains missionaries to go beyond the walls of their school to spread the inclusive gospel of Christ, but today they chose not to uphold the principles they preach," said Jarrett Lucas, co-director of Equality Ride.

University officials declined to host the group.

"Heritage Christian University has chosen to assert its freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution to choose the programs to be presented on the campus," school officials noted in a prepared statement.

The original article is available on the Times Daily website:
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081018/ARTICLES/810180329/1011/NEWS?Title=News_Briefs