Gig 'em!

So Texas A&M.... there's a fine school. We had an okay day. We were there protesting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", cause the Aggies have the largest ROTC program outside of the military academies. It was rainy and not so fabulous, but alright. The food was icky. We ate in the cadet dining hall for dinner. I had a good conversation with a guy who is taking his first sociology class and is having his mind blown wide open. He gave me a nice mini lecture on white heterosexual privilege. It was so cute, I just wanted to rub his little bald head. But seriously, he's a good guy and a good ally.

So our whole point was to ask ROTC members "Would you serve with me?" (as an openly gay person). I think our overall total as a group was about half and half, but the older cadets and the officers seemed pretty open. Personally, I learned that I feel very uncomfortable approaching men with guns to ask if they'll let me play too. But we're all learning to challenge our comfort zones.

By the way, the title is the Aggie cheer. I learned that it comes from a frog hunting term. Who knew?

This afternoon we arrived in Dallas and immediately began an hours-long photo shoot for The Advocate. We're going to be on the cover! We did a bunch of different poses, including many of us jumping up and down and yelling like enthusiastic activist maniacs. For some of those I was in the front row; that's not the way I want to make my major media debut. Oh, there's a short article in Newsweek this week about our stop at OBU, woot.

Anyway, this evening was a fundraiser at the home of former state representative and big ginormous ally Harryat Earhardt. It was a lot of fun; good food and good company and a good chorale performance, just hanging out with folks. So nice to relax.

Alright, I am off to relax even more in my lovely La Quinta room. At least the paintings aren't the same. Tomorrow is a rally at the CCCU conference and then I'm going to meet Robin's parents. Eep! I'm showing up with a bunch of dirty laundry... not a great first impression. Wish me luck!

McDonaldization

It is so weird to wake up in one La Quinta, pile onto a stinky bus and ride for 8 hours across the middle of Texas (with a notable stop in Comanche, where they sell tomato aspic, pork rinds, gigantic boxes of grits, and Dr Pepper in bottles), and end up in another La Quinta, in a room that looks exactly the same. Exactly. The bathroom door even sticks just like the old one did. We could have driven in a giant circle.

Abilene 1

Hey... just got home after literally 13 hours of dialogue. It was a really good day, but draining. At one point I was fielding questions from 8 different people on everything from my personal interpretation of the Bible to how we all get along on the bus. Crazy. I lost my chapstick, that makes me sad. I will right more later. Sleep now, and then on to College Station tomorrow.

Also, it is Robin's birthday. Happy birthday Robin!

Bondage

Saturday was our day off, our first technical day off on the whole Ride. We slept in (that means 9:30 am), went to breakfast, and then hung out around the hotel for a while. Somehow it was decided that it would be a good idea to jump in the pool with clothes on. Note that this pool had been covered in snow mere hours previously and that it was located in the center courtyard of the sketchiest motel in OK City. The first splash drew all the residents to their balconies, and as the shouts and chants of people's names grew louder, we definitely gained an audience. A bunch of bleary-eyed middle aged men who refused to make eye contact with anyone with boobs watched with a mixture of confusion and delight as we gamboled about. I myself jumped in twice, once notably in my bikini, and swam to the other end of the pool, unlike some chickens who shall remain nameless who leapt from a point immediately ajacent to the ladder and barely got damp. That was some cold ass water. Like, seriously, cold. Eventually we got about 20 people out there for a group leap and pictures, including Dondi our driver, and of course it was recorded for posterity by the documentary crew. We then retired to our hot showers, both single and communal, and then hung out at the nice barbeque the motel threw for us. Good times.

That night the plan was for several of us to go out clubbing. However, we were informed by a bartender that there were both undercover police officers and Christians posing as patrons hoping to get us in trouble by luring us into illegal activity had been spotted in the local establishments. We decided we didn't want to risk having crack slipped into our pockets and spending time in the no doubt lovely Oklahoma City jail, so had a little L Word party and crashed. Stupid people, ruining our fun. Oh, two more people cut their hair. It's apparently what we do when we get bored.

Bus survival tips: if you hang a jacket over the seat in front of you, you can use the pockets for storage. You can never have too many pillows. The back of the bus may be where all the cool kids sit, but it's also smelly and hot. However, if you sit in the front, every news crew in the country will get pictures of you sleeping and/or canoodling. If you are driving through Texas, be sure the air conditioning system has plenty of Freon. Don't abuse the PA system. Do not underestimate the power of "Finding Nemo" to bring people together. (speaking of, now that the DVD player is fixed it's much easier for me to get my rest. I slept through "The Princess Bride", "Saved", and half of "Nemo" on Sunday). Be nice to your driver, even if you have to put up with him calling you "baby". You will not make enough stops; carry your own snacks and be prepared to hold it, 'cause you do not want to use that toilet. (speaking of snacks, did I mention that people have been giving us the weirdest snacks at each stop? we have dozens of packages of cheese curls and a whole case of vienna sausages) Anything left in the storage compartments for more than 3 days is free game (free polo shirt for me!). If you are 10 minutes late, you may be left behind (ha ha Jake!). Lotion is essential.

OK City

Oklahoma City… Home of the Habana Inn, my home for the last few nights. Sketchiest motel ever. It’s just off the gay strip, and in fact has 2 clubs, a restaurant, and a gift shop all in this complex. It’s all done in authentic 70’s décor, complete with dark wood paneling, smelly pillows, and a bottle opener mounted in the bathroom. The sign on the pool says “no glassware or baby oil”. We were told not to leave our curtains open after dark because that was taken as a sign that one is looking for companionship for the evening… and we’ve certainly seen people looking for that. It’s totally safe, especially for a young lady like myself, but definitely outside my comfort zone. You can check it out at www.habanainn.com

Oh yeah, there’s also a Christian University here. Oklahoma Baptist U, specifically. We had hoped to be allowed to present on campus, but once again at the last minute there was a crackdown and we were restricted to speaking to people in the student union. Luckily the word about our visit had definitely made the rounds, and we didn’t get a quiet moment. I had a number of good conversations, ranging from a young man who was very insistent that “it isn’t my fault” I’m gay, and that he “loves me”, but that something in my development got screwed up and he was going to figure out what that was and fix it, to a young woman whose grandfather died of AIDS and just seemed to need someone to hear that and validate her feelings, to a girl who came out as bisexual and complained about the close mindedness of her school. It was challenging, but really constructive. Today the administration allowed two people to hand out literature, and we again had a good crowd, and some harder discussions with hardcore biblical literalists and people who just didn’t believe their school kicked people out.

We then had a community meeting at a local park where we heard stories from an actual lesbian who had been forced to leave the school, and a gay alum who had been closeted while he attended. It was very moving, but I admit I enjoyed the drum circle and football more. It was really nice to be outside in the sunshine, especially after yesterday’s freak snowstorm.

This evening I chopped my hair off. Or rather, Katie chopped it for me. It looks kinda like Chloe Sevigny in “If These Walls Could Talk”. Kinda hot, not gonna lie. I cut Robin’s a couple of days ago, but just to about her shoulders. She looks even cuter than she did before. Plus, obviously a lot of trust to let your inexperienced gf near your head with scissors. I recommend it as a bonding exercise.

Tomorrow is our first official day off. We’re sleeping in (thank goodness!), then breakfast and hanging out downtown, and then the hotel is hosting a barbeque for us. Should be sketchtastic. Hoping to hit the local scene tomorrow night; there are supposed to be some interesting ladies’ hangouts down the street.

In other news, I’m on Mtv. For about half a second, and unflatteringly asleep, but nonetheless. We’re on the alternative spring break special. The segment makes it look like the Equality Ride is the Jake Reitan Show, but I’m willing to deal. We’ll be in Newsweek soon too.

Alright, I’m gonna go strut in my new hair. Miss y’all!

Tulsa

Nothing too exciting to report the last couple of days. Yesterday morning we went to Oral Roberts University. They had made it quite clear that they did not want us there. We gathered across the street from the gigantic praying hands and big spaceship looking prayer tower with the flame on top and held a vigil in the freezing cold. It was 37 degrees without windchill. I couldn't hold the banner without shaking. Several people decided to cross the line and were arrested. They ended up spending most of the day in the courthouse, as a representative from ORU had asked the police to hold them as long as possible.

After the vigil we went to lunch at a food court (we do that a lot; with so many people with different food needs it's the easiest option) and part of the group ran into students from Oral Roberts in Panera. They told them that the Equality Ride website had been blocked from the campus servers, and that a filter had been put on their email and facebook accounts as well, and that they had been forbidden from approaching us on or off campus. Totalitarianmuch?

Last night 4 of us went to a local Borders where we'd been told students might be able to meet us, if campus wasn't on lockdown. I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading up on fundamentalist education and eyeing any potential students or gay kids that came near. Unfortunately we didn't actually talk to anyone, so it was a bit of a wash.

Today is a break/work day. I've spent most of the morning being lazy and doing laundry (a good thing, as I was down to my last pair of socks). This arvo we have media training with some representatives from GLAAD, and then I've got some work to do on Azusa. Tomorrow is a short trip over to Oklahoma City, where we're staying in a fun area, and then a busy couple of days at Oklahoma Baptist. It looks like the administration is again going to go back on their agreements of giving us space to present and have our planned drum circle and things. Apparently there's at least on DVD of us from Liberty and Regent circulating ahead to the schools farther down the line and our notoriety might be scaring some people off.

Tennessee Waltz

Howdy howdy howdy. We just crossed the border into Oklahoma from Arkansas, a state I have got to say I’d just as soon never see again. Gives me a creepy feeling. Also, their chicken fried steak is way too greasy. I may not eat for days. Just a couple more hours to Tulsa, Oklahoma, center of the universe.

We finished up at Lee University on Friday. We never did get a public forum or anything (note: Exodus Ministries, the definitely creepy ex-gay folks, got a whole day of fun a couple of weeks ago), but we did hold a song and prayer service outside the president’s office. It included sharing bread as a show of fellowship. A couple of us went out into the crowd and asked spectators if they would break bread with us. Two thirds of them said no. That was kind of the last straw in a couple of days of rejection and ignorance, so I returned to the hotel to make international phone calls rather than flip out and start throwing bibles and calling down the wrath of god or something.

Oh! I forgot! Thursday night our bus got defaced. Someone sprayed “fags-mobile” in pink across the side. Our bus driver saw the car driving away with an older woman and teenage boy inside; it looked like a mother and son. That was kind of traumatizing, but everyone’s okay. I’m sure it won’t be the last time.

Friday night some of us went to a movie: “V for Vendetta”. I would not recommend it, although the boys enjoyed it so maybe it’s a penis thing.

Yesterday was a decent day of driving toward Oklahoma. We stopped for an hour at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, to have a vigil. One of the Riders was kicked out of that school for being gay a couple of years ago. When we got to the edge of campus we were boarded and escorted by police to the absolute farthest corner of the athletic fields, where there was a pile of dirt, and told we could do our thing there. Admittedly we were allowed the free range of a couple of muddy soccer fields, but the symbolism was too perfect. “Here, gay kids, have some dirt and admire the view from here”. So of course we hopped right up on there and sang our songs and gave our little speeches. The school provided us with 40 box dinners, all ham sandwiches. Leviticus, anyone?

This morning as we drove through Memphis we stopped briefly at the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. It’s now the national civil rights museum. We didn’t go inside but took some pictures and had a moment at the place where he fell. Very cool.

Nothing else too exciting happening… we stayed in a very nice hotel last night. The room didn’t smell funny at all. It even had a whirlpool; Robin and I got up early this morning and enjoyed a relaxing soak. Funny things: I am the facilitator for the “liturgy committee” formed late last night, so organized a modified, mostly non-sectarian version of morning prayer for today. I think it went pretty well, although some might doubt the wisdom of putting a high church Anglican-Pagan in charge of services for an overwhelmingly Protestant and “other” bunch of folks. It’s gonna be hot.

By the way, because I’ve gotten some questions on it, I’d just like to make it clear that I have not hopped on the Jesus train bound for nowhere or something. Hanging out with the other Riders and at these schools has kind of forced me to become more articulate about things I’d previously kept to myself. When someone asks you in total honesty “So, what’s your relationship with God and how do you reconcile that with your sexuality?” you have to sort of do some reflecting, no? Also, singing “This Little Light of Mine” over and over (with new and exciting verses like “won’t let Pat Robertson put it out”) does have some sort of effect.

Another sidenote: if you haven’t figured it out, Robin and I are, you know, dating. As much as one can be said to be dating someone you spend 24/7 with. She’s adorable and lovely and smart and an excellent cuddle buddy. Even attending an Episcopal church and not a Yankee for once. We may have an interesting time in Dallas if she decides to tell her parents about me…

We’re spending this week in Oklahoma at Oral Roberts University and Oklahoma Baptist University. Should be interesting. Hopefully I’ll have better internet access and can keep y’all updated better. I have been receiving your personal emails, but haven’t had a moment to respond.

Pictures!

Here are pictures of the second day at Regent, including a lovely one of my ass getting arrested. There are more pics and blog entries up now too.

This morning at Lee went well. Details later. Just now I am cracked out on Theraflu and laying around in bed trying to head off a sinus infection and cough.

Breakin' the Law

Hey y’all. I’m writing to you from the Big Gay Bus on I-95 South. We just crossed the border into North Carolina and saw our first sign for JR cigars. Woohoo. Today we’re spending about 10 hours on the road between Virginia Beach and Cleveland, Tennessee. Thank goodness for laptops, DVD players, and piles of people to cuddle with.

But I’m guessing you’re reading this because you want to hear about my brief stint in the custody of law enforcement. We rolled into Virginia Beach pretty late on Sunday night, dropped our stuff in the lovely Best Western on the far south end of the Strip, and met to discuss our relationship with Regent University. They had refused to respond to phone calls and emails for more than a month early this year, but had finally agreed to a couple of moderated classroom discussions. However while we were in DC they sent a letter saying that they were rescinding their offer because we continued to insist that their policy bars the enrollment of homosexual students and because we had not updated our website to reflect the fact that they had begun to talk with us. Now, it is true that we did not update the site and it had been a week or 10 days since discussions had begun. However, their school policy does ban all homosexual conduct along with incest and bestiality. So while they don’t ask anyone to check the “straight” box on their application, they do clearly discriminate. Any reports you may have heard saying that we cut off discussion with them are completely contrary to reality.

Based on all this we were not exactly sure what reception to expect when we rolled up to the campus. We expected to be forbidden entrance, but held out hope that the administration might have changed its mind based on our continued attempts to clarify the situation. We certainly did not expect to be treated like an invading force, which is what in fact happened. As we turned onto the road bordering the school, a half dozen patrol cars of both city police and university/CBN (the Christian Broadcasting Network is also based at the school) public safety officers tailed the bus. The entire campus was on lockdown, with all driveways blocked with traffic cones and water-filled barriers. There were at least 40 armed officers (I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more; I didn’t count) and a dozen mounted police as well. Quite the welcoming committee. As soon as we pulled up to the curb the bus was boarded and we were given our first and only warning to vacate the premises or face immediate arrest. We left 2 people to negotiate and retreated a safe distance.

Eventually we figured out where we could stand on public property and hold a vigil. We spent several hours singing and holding a banner and hoping students would come out to us if we couldn’t get to them, all while being watched very diligently by Pat Robertson’s finest. In fact, about 16 students were turned away from coming to speak to us, in spite of our clear shared desire to dialogue. That was very frustrating. Finally we held up a sign with a cell phone number and got in contact with them and a small contingent of our group met them at the 7-11 across the street. That meeting went very well from what I understand and about 8 members of the group went to a prayer service/bible study with those students later that night. Mid afternoon we packed up and returned to the hotel to rest and strategize. That night we had a potluck dinner at a local UCC church. How is it that those dinners have not changed at all in the last 22 years? The one nod to the passage of time was a single sad bowl of edamame among the scalloped potatoes and ham.

The discussion that night was tense. The massive police presence was admittedly quite intimidating, and there was quite a bit of discussion about the conservativism of the local legal system. We decided that anyone who had been arrested at Liberty should not be put at risk again in the same state and in so quick a time. There seemed to be the definite possibility that people might be held for several days if in fact arrests occurred. By the end of the meeting when it was asked who would put themselves forward, I was the only one who raised my hand.

Let me share what I wrote to my parents about that decision:
“That is a very bare bones account of my day. I'm not sure I can put into words the way I feel called to try to reach these kids... They want to talk to us. There are gay and lesbian students who need and want to hear our message, and are being prevented by a very frightened and frightening administration. I will not stay silent. Beyond that, Reverend Robertson and his followers represent everything that I oppose in the human spirit and religion especially. Tomorrow I will cross that line not only for myself and my LGBT brothers and sisters, but for all of those who have been silenced by religious oppression and those who will be silenced in the future if fundamentalism succeeds in its goals of controlling the political and cultural momentum of this country. As I stood today holding a banner with people who I have been blessed to call my friends, I looked up through the trees at the sun and felt the ocean wind on my face, and I knew in the core of my being that our Creator rejoices in us, in all our diversity of thought and emotion and being. The Spirit dances in that place as much as anywhere else in the universe. I don't know, and I frankly doubt, that I will be able to express that feeling to the students at Regent through my words. But perhaps by my actions, my lack of fear in the knowledge of the truth, I will be able to show it.”

Yesterday morning we were off very early. We went back to the UCC church to prepare. By this time there were 5 people who wanted to cross the line onto campus if they did not welcome us. Haven spoke eloquently about her experiences at the prayer service and how she had been touched by one young woman’s story of struggling to resolve her faith and her sexuality. Jake’s sister Britta who was traveling with us for a couple of days began to cry and thanked us for giving her back some of her faith in people and in God that had been lost when her church rejected Jake. It was very emotional. It is amazing to me how much we as a group affect each other and the people we come in contact with.

We pulled up across from Regent and prepared for a short press conference and then to continue our vigil in the same place as the day before. As we all lined up in front of the bus, the group of students who had met with us the day before came up and began moving down the line hugging us and shaking hands. They approached us each individually, looked us in the eye, and apologized on behalf of Christians and Christianity for any time that we had felt discrimination, hatred, hurt, or a lack of wholeness and love from the Church. A young man knelt on the wet ground in front of me and with tears in his eyes begged my forgiveness… we hugged and cried, because I knew some of his story and that he had been hurt as well. I’m not sure I can express the power of that moment.

Of course, two cameras caught the whole scene and I was pounced upon almost immediately: “I saw a lot of emotion there, what did he say to you? What was that like? Are you prepared to be arrested today?” I hope I spoke well, I know some of that footage aired last night and today but I haven’t seen it. It’s not that I seek apologies from the students we want to talk to, but to receive and give that humility voluntarily, to have that human moment of touch and love, is exactly why we are here.

The vigil line formed again on the public sidewalk, and we stood waiting for students to approach again. We could see several of them looking at us. There seemed to be even more police than before, and they had erected a line of caution tape to mark the boundary as well. After about half an hour the first person prepared to face arrest began walking toward that line saying “I want to talk to those students. We need to have this discussion. They want to speak to me” etc. until the cops surrounded her and escorted her away. Quite the sight to see 15 cops descend upon a single brave young woman. I was the last of the group to go, by that time I got maybe 15 steps before I was grabbed by a rather rough officer Payton. I was taken back to the line of patrol cars, searched, and handcuffed (real steel ones too, very classy though I didn’t get to keep them). A total of 6 of us ended up in the paddywagon. They ended up driving us onto campus and behind the hospitality building where they’d set up a processing center in a loading dock. My arresting officer filled out a form and we got our picture taken together. I agreed to sign the summons to appear in court in April so I did not have to appear in front of the magistrate. My court date is April 14, but we are hoping to either get an attorney who can represent us or at least a continuance so we won't miss any of the Ride. Then it was mostly a matter of waiting for the rest of the group to finish. I had a really good conversation with the head officer, who used to work for the sheriff’s office in San Diego. He warned me to be careful in Tennessee and to watch out for the rest of the group, especially the boys who might be easier targets. I pointed out to him that if it was dangerous for us to go there, it was clearly also dangerous for some people who are already there, and that that’s why we were going. The whole thing was actually quite friendly, though certainly tense. I had some mixed feelings about engaging in conversation with the officers, but I decided that I had nothing to gain by being belligerent, and maybe the next time they hear the word “dyke” or hear about how homosexuals are ruining the country and molesting children or whatever, they’ll think of me and how lovely and charming I am.

I guess the whole thing took about 2 or 3 hours, and then we were driven off campus to the shopping center where the bus was waiting for us. It was a big relief to be reunited with everyone, and be applauded and hugged and tackled. We had lunch and returned to the hotel where I promptly fell asleep (it had been a stressful day!) and woke up just in time to be late for the group picture on the beach (coast to coast on the big gay bus!), debriefing, and dinner with more Regent students. About 20, 25 of them met us at a restaurant and we had a fun evening of storytelling. I spoke to the young man who had knelt in front of me, and heard about his attempts at overcoming his own attractions to men. He still struggles but is currently dating a woman he intends to marry. I also shared my story of coming out and my faith and family with a woman who serves on the student advisory board to the administration. She was very friendly but I could tell she was surprised and a little nervous about some of the things I said. I’m not sure she expected me to tell her I had been praying to find something like this trip, and that I felt truly called to be on it and that it was strengthening my own beliefs. It was wonderful to finally sit down and have these conversations after being turned away so many times. I look forward to more of them.

So that was quite the day… if you go to www.logoonline.com/news/ you can find a little story on us, including what I’m told is footage of me singing “We Shall Overcome” and on the phone with my mom, though I haven’t gotten the video link to work on my computer. Also, the main Equality Ride website will soon have pictures posted, as well as daily blog entries from different riders. I can’t wait for y’all to meet some of these people through their own words. The Advocate online will be running posts from each of our stops, and I’ll be writing one or two from Los Angeles. I can’t even keep track of all the media anymore, if you guys see anything you find particularly exciting let me know.

Alright, I’m off to a meeting in row 15. Hopefully in the next couple of days I’ll write something about all the fun stuff that goes on with this bunch, and not just the serious stuff. Love!

My first hate mail!

Just so y'all know it's not hearts and flowers out here, a Reverend Donald Spitz sent me (and several other Riders) this email yesterday:

"You are some sick people.
Whatever you think, you will not be able to change God's Word regarding
homosexuality and will one day have to pay the price for not believing what God has
written.

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of
them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood
shall be upon them.

Romans 1:22-27

V22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, V23 And changed the glory
of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

V24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

V25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, Who is blessed for ever. Amen.

V26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did
change the natural use into that which is against nature:

V27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving
in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

1 Timothy 1:8-10

V8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

V9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless
and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for
murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

V10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to
sound doctrine;

1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of
God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind

SAY THIS PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner and am headed to eternal hell because of
my sins. I believe you died on the cross to take away my sins and to take me to
heaven. Jesus, I ask you now to come into my heart and take away my sins and give me
eternal life."

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death (2)

I was definitely nervous rolling up to LU. There was a lot of media and a very visible police presence. The chief of the Lynchburg police made a very fair statement to us before we got off the bus, and the head of the Liberty police force (like DOPS), told us we might face a year of prison and was basically not very nice about the whole thing. We were told to keep to a long sidewalk that circles around the front of campus. On the other side of a chainlink fence were the athletic fields, including a football stadium emblazoned with the legend "Home of the Flames" (tehee). It was a gorgeous hot and windy day. Luckily a couple of us found some sunscreen but most of the group is now rather lobsterish.

We lined up along the sidewalk holding a banner and standing vigil more or less silently, and then Jake and Haven spoke to the press for a few minutes. Someone's Sister performed again, which was nice. Several students came out and spoke to us, not so much in support of our cause as to say that we should have been at least allowed on campus. After the press conference we stood in vigil for another 45 minutes or so, singing and talking to students who came out. Maybe a half dozen cars drove by yelling slurs. That was harder for me to deal with than I expected it to be. Next those who were prepared to be arrested went to the front of the group while the rest of us hung back. Jake started by attempting to step on the property to give a speech. When he was arrested (both for trespassing and inciting to trespass) the person behind him continued reading from the speech where he left off, and when they were silenced the person behind continued, and so on. As we had about 25 people prepared, that process took a while. The police also came into the crowd to arrest Bill and Phil on charges of inciting to trespass. When they did that the rest of us dropped farther back and continued to sing.

When it seemed like they were beginning to transport people to the police station, a small group of us piled into a car to meet them there. We stood outside the doors and clapped as our group members were taken from the squad cars in plastic handcuffs. Everyone handled it really well and stood with dignity. We as a group truly stand in the love of our Creator and the grace of truth, let me tell you. Anyway, that whole thing took another big chunk of time, as we had to wait for everyone to be processed through the magistrate's office and all that. People started to be released at about 3 or 4 o'clock with their summonses to appear in court on April 3. We hugged them and congratulated them and gave them milk and cookies. The rest of the group who had stayed at the school joined us and we all had a big celebratory reunion.

Then it was back to the hotel for some showers and rest, and then to dinner at Mel White's house. We hung out and had some destressing time, which was certainly necessary. Even though I guess as I describe it it seems kind of boring, it was a really intense experience. Maybe I'll try to express that better in a later post. This whole thing though is amazingly transformative and empowering.

Today has, thank goodness, been a very quiet day. We've done some work on presentations and prepping for later stops, but also just eaten and slept and wandered the Lynchburg mall looking for sunglasses and shorts. Tomorrow we're going to church and then on to Virginia Beach, home of Regent University and Pat Robertson. As you may have heard, they have decided not to speak to us after all and may be planning to arrest us if we attempt to enter campus. I am prepared to be arrested Monday, as I certainly view Pat Robertson and his views as some of the most dangerous and hurtful in this country today.

Any questions? Make a comment below and I'll answer!

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death (1)

*whew* That was intense... well, I don't know if you all have been reading the media reports (if you haven't, just search "equality ride" on google news and you'll get a bunch of stuff, video included. I recommend the Washington Post article on the front page of the religion section), but I guess you can find the general outlines of what happened at Liberty University yesterday pretty easily, so I'm going to tell you about my experiences in the last couple of days.

Thursday evening we went to First Christian Church, where we had a lovely sending service including prayers and songs and a candle lighting ceremony. Jake's parents lit candles for us and gave us a speech on behalf of all our parents and said they were so proud of as their children and the future of the world. It was very moving. More crying. This was especially appropriate because earlier that day one member of a group got a call from her father, who had seen an article about the ER in the local paper. He asked if she was on the ride (she hadn't told him specifically what she was doing) and told her if she was she should not come home and that he was going to close her bank accounts. We had to pull off the freeway so she could run to the bank and get as much money out as possible. Also, as we were leaving the prayer service another rider was cornered by a gentleman who started telling her she was going to hell etc. Quite scary that he was able to get in the church and all that.

After the service we had Chinese food just like the Freedom Riders did before they left (Jake belabored this point a bit much, I've gotta say) and a concert by Someone's Sister (they're a lesbian folk duo who do a lot of good work with domestic violence). We also got nifty lunchpails filled with candy and light up hats with smiley faces. Yay gays. We had a good time, and then a long conversation about what the next day was to hold.

So Friday morning we got up and dressed in our supercool Soulforce Equality Ride garb. Many of us decided to fast in preparation and in support of those who were going to be arrested. We got on the bus and headed back to the church for final preparations and to train community members who wanted to stand with us, then boarded the bus to head over to Falwell country. We sang "we shall overcome" and "this little light of mine" and other things. Robin and I happened to be sitting in the front row of the bus nearest the media, and were definitely the tear-jerker handholding footage of beautiful young women fighting for justice and all that. Also, the gentleman from Logo caught me calling Mom to say I wasn't getting arrested and was doing just fine, and then he interviewed me. He said later he hoped that footage will make the final cut 'cause it was really surreal.

Mason Dixon Who?

Howdy howdy howdy!

Good afternoon from Lynchburg Virginia, home of Liberty University and Jerry Falwell. We just arrived a couple of minutes ago but there is much to catch you up on before we head off to Chinese food and Jesus at the First Christian Church. Yay Jesus. Our hotel this time is actually pretty bangin', for a Days Inn. We have a little balcony and there's breakfast in the restaurant downstairs and a bowling alley across the way. Also, best roomates ever in Haven and Robin. Good times ahead.

So the bus. It's a groovy bus. It's wrapped to look like it's covered in newspapers with different headlines like "Learn from History, Fight Religion Based Oppression" and "GLBT Rights" and "Youth Activism". It looks pretty neat, but the wrap is finely perforated so we can see out and looking through it gives me a headache. Otherwise, it's a pretty normal bus I guess. The bathroom is a bit scary... it moves a lot more than you might expect, and there's no sink, just a little bottle of sanitizer. You can see the disinfectant blue water stuff swishing and sloshing like some weird ocean in the toilet. I will not be using it often.

We had a press conference this morning in front of the CCCU (that's the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities, I believe) and then rolled out of DC and out here to Lynchburg. I spent most of the trip trying to sleep but not quite succeeding. By the way, I do not know what I would do without my ipod. If any of you are considering doing something like this, make sure you have one. So yeah, driving through Virginia is interesting... we passed through the Blue Ridge Mountains (I think) and an area where I did not get cell phone service, which you know means it's the boonies. I was pleasantly surprised when I got off the bus to see the sun and feel actual warmth in the air. We were greeted by a gentleman with a bonified mullet and the kind of accent that usually makes me twinge and run my liberal butt for the hills. He asked what we were up to and Jake told him, and he was actually really supportive and asked if he could sign anything to help us. Said: "I ain't a gay or lesbian or nothin', but I support ya". He asked if I had a cigarette and I gave him a clove I happened to have on me and we chatted a bit. He told me his dad used to run moonshine with Jerry and that he's "not a real preacher, he's in it for the money". Hotchya.

You have no idea how hard it is to keep up with this blog business... I've barely introduced any of these people to you. Yesterday we had a really intense training session that culminated in half of the group sobbing while a half dozen cameras recorded it all for the Washington Post, the AP wire (it got picked up by 80+ outlets), Mtv News, and the Australian Broadcasting Network. Grand. We also got to meet Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, one of the original Freedom Riders and a great champion of progressive causes. Awesome. Oh, and Robin and I watched Angel pierce his own lip. There was a lot more blood than I expected. He thinks he's going to be able to hook those who are interested up with free ER tattoos when we're in LA.

Alright, I gotta shower and get to church. Oh, I led the devotional/centering moment and quoted both the Book of Common Prayer and Peter Paul & Mary. I was proud.

I'll try to get some pictures up here soon... you've gotta see the "garb" we have. You will laugh; we look kinda like Mormons.

Gay Camp!

Which, in some circles, might be considered redundant. Ha ha.

Greetings from Arlington! I got to the motel Saturday morning, said howdy to the leadership team, and was promptly assigned the task of making sure everyone else arrived safely. This included no fewer than four roundtrips to the metro station a mile away (note that it was about 3 degrees and windy as heck) and one ride to the airport, not to mention numerous phone calls and shouts of "where are you? how did you get there?! don't move, I'm on my way!" Silly people from the midwest and their confusion with public transportation. But everyone is finally here (except for the token straight girl, who arrives tonight) and settled into our lovely motel.

Ah, the motel... it's clean, mostly, so that's good, but is also vaguely sketchy. There's a Thai travel agency in the lobby that is only open in the afternoons, and the weirdest gift shop ever that is only open 7am-11am. There's also an Indian restaurant and bar that is apparently the place to be on Saturday nights, if the incredibly loud music and belly dancers are anything to go by. The owner invited us to stage our own party there tonight; we'll have to see if that happens since we have programming until 10pm or something like that. The Prime Minister of India had dinner there last year. Weird, very weird.

It's great to catch up with everybody that I haven't talked to since Dallas and meet the couple of others that have joined since. We're a pretty diverse group, everyone from a hardcore anarchist dyke with a shaved head to a nice little youth minister from Alabama. We've been doing diversity training and group building for the last couple of days, which is pretty cool. That old thing about having to confront racism and classism and sexism and everything as well as homophobia and religious oppression. Good times. The divisions within the group in terms of personality are beginning to show a little bit though... we've definitely got the partiers (who notably microwaved beer and gummi bears in my room the first night) and the quiet kids and the nerdy ones (there's a mac cult. they sit together and talk about option buttons and things) and the hardcore activists and the wide-eyed innocents. It's a blast though, everyone learning and sharing and keeping each other up until all hours.

Robin would like me to note that we had a deep chat last night until 1 am. She's a very cool chick from Texas and Colombia. We turned down gay Christmas carols for this. She says "Hi, Di's friends and family. You are very lucky to have such a wonderful person in your life, and thanks for sharing her."

:-)