Two weeks into
Equality Ride 2--in which 50 young gay and straight
activists affiliated with Soulforce are touring the country
in two buses with a mission to initiate dialogue at 32
Christian colleges that have policies silencing or
excluding LGBT students--participants have been
jailed in Waco, Texas, where Riders attempted to visit
Baylor University, and have been threatened with
citations at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss.
Currently, five
Equality Riders and one Baylor student are being held in
McClennan County Jail in Waco. They were arrested Tuesday on
criminal trespassing charges after writing messages of
support for LGBT students in chalk on sidewalks on the
Baylor campus. According to a Soulforce press release,
bail has been set at $2,000 each.
Also on Tuesday,
eastbound riders were informed by Clinton police that
they would be cited if they attempted to gather in a group
of four or more near the campus of Mississippi
College--this after being told during earlier
negotiations that the riders were considered terrorists and
would be treated "just like America dealt with 9/11,"
according to the release. Soulforce immediately
contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of
Mississippi, which intervened on the group's behalf. After
ACLU-Mississippi staff attorney John Williams cited Supreme
Court precedents establishing prior restraint on the
right to assemble as "the most serious and least
tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights,"
Clinton police immediately withdrew the restrictions.
On Thursday
riders were planning a peaceful vigil on a public sidewalk
adjacent to the Baylor campus, while on Friday the westbound
riders were planning to march around the outskirts of
Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where they've
already received a notice of trespassing and
proclamation of arrest if they enter church or university
property. (The Advocate)
