From
the
very
moment
they
took
off,
the
50
gay
rights
activists
who
hit
the
road
on
a
tour
of
private,
Christian
college
campuses
with
the
2007
Soulforce
Equality
Ride
made
headlines.
The
second
Equality
Ride,
which
kicked
off
with
one
bus
traveling
east
and
the
other
traveling
west
on
March
8,
came
to
an
end
April
26.
During
that
time,
riders
racked
up
approximately
90
arrests
and
thousands
of
dollars
in
bail
money
and
court
fines,
usually
for
little
more
than
stepping
onto
the
private
property
of
the
campuses
they
visited
—
though
typically
after
being
warned
by
college
officials
and
local
authorities.
The
riders,
most
under
age
25,
volunteered
their
time
and
were
not
paid
for
the
trip.
Each
rider
was
tasked
with
raising
about
$4,000
from
donations
for
trip
expenses,
which
included
about
$80,000
in
hotel
bills
and
$30,000
for
food,
according
to
West
Bus
co-director
Haven
Herrin.
So
far,
Herrin
said
the
fundraising
efforts
of
the
riders
and
Soulforce
had
yielded
about
two-thirds
of
the
$400,000
trip
budget.
The
riders
coordinated
each
campus
visit,
some
months
in
advance,
and
contacted
each
school
on
the
tour
to
ask
for
official
permission
to
enter
the
campuses
and
interact
freely
with
willing
students
and
teachers.
“I
think
that’s
one
of
the
best
examples
of
why
we’re
doing
what
we’re
doing.
Why
are
the
administrators
on
these
campuses
so
afraid
of
conversations,
of
people
simply
having
conversations
about
a
subject
they
probably
disagree
on?”
asked
East
Bus
rider
Joey
Heath
before
the
trip
concluded.
The
riders
showed
up
at
each
stop
armed
with
information
about
each
school’s
policies
concerning
homosexuality
and
gay
students.
From
the
start,
the
ride,
and
the
reactions
of
the
schools
and
towns
to
which
it
traveled,
garnered
national
attention.
Before
East
Bus
riders
could
set
foot
on
Dordt
College’s
campus
in
Sioux
Center,
Iowa
—
their
first
destination
—
they
awakened
to
find
their
temporary
bus
defaced
with
anti-gay
slurs.
As
the
trip
rolled
on,
riders
were
arrested
at
stops
in
nearly
every
state
they
visited,
including
Utah,
where
they
also
made
one
of
their
greatest
achievements,
according
to
Herrin.
Following
a
March
22
stop
at
Brigham
Young
University
in
Provo,
Utah,
where
rider
Kourt
Anderson
and
his
mother,
Karel
Allen,
were
both
arrested
for
trespassing
on
the
campus,
the
school
revised
its
policies,
which
previously
called
for
the
dismissal
of
openly
gay
students.
The
school
loosened
its
rules
to
allow
gay
students
to
come
out
of
the
closet
without
fear
of
official
reprisal,
but
maintained
strict
chastity
requirements
for
all
students.
“While
we
are
not
directly
responsible
for
communication
with
the
administration,
as
we
were
prohibited
from
speaking
with
the
administration,
I
do
believe
that
the
students
who
were
a
part
of
those
conversations
were
galvanized
by
the
Equality
Ride
visits,”
Herrin
said.
East
Bus
riders,
who
included
Heath
and
Robin
Reynolds,
both
from
Valdosta,
Ga.,
landed
at
Covenant
College
in
Lookout
Mountain,
Ga.,
on
April
2,
and
were
immediately
warned
by
school
officials
and
a
20-member
police
squad
not
to
step
foot
on
the
school’s
property.
After
a
day
of
meeting
and
talking
to
about
50
students,
four
riders
—
Rachel
Loskill,
Bronwen
Tomb,
Adam
Britt
and
Jarrett
Lucas
—
read
aloud
from
a
prepared
statement
that
asked
Covenant
College
to
reconsider
its
policies
prohibiting
openly
gay
students
from
attending
the
school.
Almost
instantly
after
stepping
onto
the
school’s
property,
the
riders
were
arrested,
then
jailed
overnight
on
trespassing
charges.
Days
before
the
Covenant
College
stop,
12
East
Bus
riders
were
arrested
during
a
sit-in
demonstration
at
Southern
Baptist
Theological
Seminary
in
Louisville,
Ky.
The
riders
stopped
in
at
the
school
in
protest
of
school
president
Albert
Moehler’s
comments,
which
advocated
eugenic
interference
with
fetuses
to
prevent
children
from
being
born
gay.
