There were 5 Equality Riders and one Student arrested outside of Waco Hall at Baylor University in Waco, TX on Tuesday. They were chalking affirmations and Bible verses on the sidewalk in a group of about 20 people evenly divided between the Riders and Students. The 6 arrested refused to stop when plain clothes officers of the Waco police department intervened. Included in those arrested were Amanda Harris, a former Baylor student, Vince Cervantes, Shawn O'Neil, Mandy Mathias, Joshua Polycarpe, and Sean Morrison, a current student at Baylor. As they were arrested and led away the remaining students and Riders sang "We Shall Overcome" and other songs. The Riders first visited the campus on Monday, attending Chapel and initiating informal discussions with students. They were denied an official forum for discussion although at an off campus forum straight and gay students and alumni described an atmosphere of fear and silence and detailed at least one instance of anti-gay intimidation in the residence halls. The chalking was in memory of Baylor Freedom an underground GLBT organization never officially recognized by the university that in past times had also chalked the sidewalks with affirmations and verses. Like in those past times Baylor officials had the sidewalks washed clean within the hour. "For a campus that is 'comfortable with conversations about human sexuality,' Baylor seems very quick to silence those who have differing opinions on the topic," said one student, who asked to remain anonymous. This was in reference to an e-mail to the student body from the Vice President for Student Life, Dr Samuel Oliver. It does not appear that much has changed in the way of administration policy since I attended in the 70's. There does seem to be more awareness on the part of students and alumni of GLBT issues but no official forum exists to redress these issues and no alliance for GLBT students is available on campus. As of this morning all those arrested were still being held in the McClennan County Jail in lieu of $2000 bond which is equal to the maximum fine for the offense of criminal trespassing. If you would like to help support the Riders or help to pay their fines got to www.equalityride.com. For more adventures visit the Soulforce Blog where there is an interesting account of their travel to Mormon country where they were definitely not welcomed to BYU.Back over in the mid-west an Indiana school teacher, Amy Sorrell, was suspended for two months for allowing an op-ed piece by sophomore Megan Chase which ran in the January 19 edition of the school newspaper, The Tomahawk. "I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today's society," Chase wrote. "I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you." After the issue was published school principal Edwin Yoder mandated all writings be subjected to his approval. This was refused by Sorrell and the staff, on advice from the Student Press Law Center. In February Principal Yoder issued a written warning to Sorrell for insubordination and failing in her responsibilities as a teacher by exposing students to inappropriate material. The school board refused to address the issue referring students to the Asst. Superintendent who said the editorial by Megan Chase was biased and that Principal Yoder was within his guidelines in enforcing the review of student publications. Adam Goldstein, an attorney at the Student Press Law Center, said "If students are not being taught tolerance in the classroom, their problem is much larger than this particular incident." adding that the center has pro bono lawyers if the students want to go to court. There is no reason for this suspension other than intolerance and bigotry. No wonder students are afraid to come out in school when faced by this kind of ignorance and repression. Freedom of the press is not alive and well in our schools if truth cannot be published in a student newspaper. The students and Ms Sorrell should take them to court where they should win according to Supreme Court precedent in similar cases.
I was going to post the You Tube video where Wayne Besen parodied the EX-Gay movement on the Daily Show with John Stewart but Viacom pitched a bitch and You Tube caved and pulled the video. It was hilarious but unless you caught the show or the video on Americablog before it got pulled, you will just have to take my word for it. I am sure glad subscribe to Americablog so that I caught that as well as their usual excellent commentary on politics and the world. If you have never been there, check em out, they are well worth the read.
If you like Texas men (and I do) you might want to check out cliqtexas which features men from central Texas as well as other items of interest to our community. On their site right now is a complete movie "No Night Is Too Long". It runs an hour and 40 minutes but it is a good movie to watch if you have time to see it. If not just check out the eye candy there, it is definitely worth a viewing. Speaking of eye candy, I have some excellent choices of my own for you tonight, so I shall not dilly dally any further. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
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