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Soulforce Equality Ride 2008 is a tour through the country by 17 activists looking to promote gay and lesbian rights at conservative southern schools.
Seems harmless enough, unless you are a religious Southern school.
On Monday, Soulforce Equal Riders made an appearance at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC to help reform their ideas on homosexuality and change their ban on homosexuality on campus, as stated in the school’s handbook. CIU is a privately funded fundamentalist school that promotes Christian faith and values.
Prior to the arrival of the activist group, CIU issued a statement saying that the university would not allow Soulforce’s bus to enter the campus, though they did propose that Soulforce meet off-campus. Soulforce refused to do so.
Upon their arrival, Equal Riders were welcomed with police tape and barriers, secluding them to a limited area to talk to the students. Dialogue between the young activists and CIU students was monitored by school officials and faculty. The discussion was eventually broken up by police and Equal Riders were asked to leave the campus.
When a simple discussion about the rights of people on a college campus is seen as such a horrible thing and broken up so forcefully, it really makes a person think back to the days of civil rights marches and meetings. Have we really progressed so little after so long?
7 Comments
That college is pathetic…you can’t BAN homosexuality…
They think by banning people’s freedom to be who they are (i.e: Gay), they can make homosexuality go away.
An education from there seems like it’ll get you far!
What a bunch of A$$HOLES! This seriously enrages me. I can’t even imagine how those kids felt. Anyone who goes to Columbia International University should be forced to leave the country. Disgusting.
I go to a small southern christian school (don’t judge). I just tried to look at SoulForces website and it was BLOCKED! I can’t even read about someone being gay!! How ridiculous. I’m not even sure the scholarship money is worth it…!
I would love for them to come here…
I go to a small southern school - which I’m not going to say which, because we get a lot of unwarranted hate down here - & they came here this year & a few years ago. I wasn’t here when they came the first time - but what I heard was that we let them come on campus to talk to the students, but the deal was we’ll listen to them but then they have to listen to what we have to say. Fair, right? But apparently they did not even remotely want to hear what we had to say, they just wanted to lecture us. My school is a private school, meaning we are privately owned & don’t need to let anyone on campus. Why they came here & just lectured us blew my mind. (& to clarify, I’m from NY and not at all anti-homosexuality - so I’m not picking sides, I’m only reporting what I know). I can see why this school did that, my school had them all arrested. They came HERE and harassed US - the christians who go here did not go seek them out & harass THEM.
Not to take sides, but would everyone be just as pissed off if the situation was reversed, and it was an anti-homosexuality group that was trying to enter a privately funded school? Would we all be so quick to jump up and down if it was an organization that supported something that you didn’t like? Like Krissy said, if the school is privately funded, then they don’t have to do anything they don’t want to.
lets put it into something heterosexuals can understand better. What if someone banned you from somewhere because you were straight? Wouldn’t that make you feel less of a human being. Just because these people are homosexual, doesn’t mean they are terrible people. Banning it will not make homosexuality rid from your mind. if you’re gay, then you’re gay. I’m bisexual, and you can’t just tell me to not like girls. I’m sorry?
Homosexuals are people, they deserve the same rights as any other human being. Maybe these schools need to learn to be tolerant of other peoples differences, if not, then they will just stay completly ignorant and bigoted.
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