no more closets

Samford:

Our day at Samford University was beautiful, and I wish I could write more, but alas, there is no time. We had a productive day of dialogue. Students asked insightful questions, and I am impressed with their insight and Christian ethic. From what I understand, an underground Gay-Straight Alliance is in the works there, AND a student is proposing a policy change in regards to the anti-homosexuality clause in their sexuality statement.

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Bob Jones University. This institution, without a doubt, has roots deeply planted in households across America.

Bob Jones is a powerful man with a ministry that stretches far beyond Greenville, South Carolina into text books, and schools, and hearts—all centered on fundamental Christian attitudes. I spent some time learning about this influence prior to our visit at Bob Jones. I also learned a bit about the many prohibitions the school has. I’ll list a few to give you an idea about what kind of university we are dealing with:

• In 2000, BJU finally allowed interracial dating—only if the two individuals involved have parental consent.
• All women must wear pantyhose until 5:00 PM.
• Skirts must be worn to class at all times. They must go to the knee.
• Jeans can only be worn in the dorms.
• Hair styles must be appropriately feminine or masculine depending on gender.
• Students are only allowed to leave campus with a chaperone. Seniors can leave or be chaperones as well.
• Men and women have different curfews—women’s earlier.
• All dates must have chaperone (a woman or a married couple) and until recently, this chaperone had to be the female’s parents. Now, the male’s parents are permitted to chaperone.
• BJU claims they have no gay students, yet there is a very large myspace group for LGBT alumni from Bob Jones.
• Internet access is very restricted at BJU.
• There are always 4 people in a dorm room, one is the prayer captain. This role is essentially there to keep an eye on the students in the room.
• No physical contact on campus unless a man is offering his arm (this rule is unspoken, from what I understand)
• Everything is “checkable” such as clothes, books, video games, music—meaning held to strict scrutiny. Students are not even allowed to listen to Christian contemporary artists.
• Shorts and tank tops are never allowed in public.
• No cussing. No books or movies a student owns can have any curse words.
• Students cannot view a movie that has a “higher” rating than PG.

I knew that if civil disobedience was to take place, I wanted to be a part of it. It has become my lifelong mission to dismantle oppression and to understand the systemic interconnections of it, and no campus thus far has been as blatantly oppressive to all marginalized groups as Bob Jones University.

Today we held a small meeting in a local park prior to our arrival on campus. Some members of a right-wing fundamentalist group joined us and later joined us at the university. They are called Operation Save America.



Later we had a group dialogue on what it means to be violent, and if this group’s actions were indeed violent. They did not scream. They did not shout. They did not throw a Bible in our faces. However, what they did was smile while telling lies. Smile was spewing hate in the faces of our riders and community members. They asked the protestors across the street to come to our side of the sidewalk with their AIDS signs and bullhorns.

We stood in silent vigil for about an hour and a half while preachers from two different sides did a call and response type of action. They would yell certain things and the congregations would respond with “amen,” “hallelujah,” or whatever the preacher asked them to respond with. I’m not sure if writing all the things that were said is even worth it—if it’s even fruitful to put these things back into existence. But, it is a reality that needs to be remembered and understood, and not forgotten—for it is what sustains us in the midst of hurting us as well. People who speak hate prove the necessity of why it is so important for people to speak love.



The preachers told us we were dying of AIDS. Their signs said we were dying of AIDS. We even had conversations with people who thought that AIDS just magically appeared in gay men—they had no understanding that it was a disease that is contracted from another person who has the disease. One preacher even made it over to us to yell at us before the police asked him to leave. Signs read: “Three Gay Rights: 1) AIDS 2) HELL 3) SALVATION” “No Water in Hell” “Homosexuality is sick, wicked, and an abomination before God”







We absorbed a lot of hate during this time. Dean, our logistics coordinator was standing beside me with his partner Gary. They are both older individuals. One of the preachers began to jeer at them—saying that their love would never be a real love. I reached over and put my hand on Dean’s back as a sign of support. The preacher then replied, “That woman touching you on the back: She doesn’t love you anymore than Satan loves you!”

Shortly thereafter, our direct action came. Three of us—all women I want to add—attempted to walk on the university bringing very specific things. Both Bronwen and I created art pieces to present to Bob Jones University to hopefully display in their art museum. As it stands, the art museum on their campus is the only place that an openly LGBTQ person can be, as it is a 501(c)(3). I created a piece called “no more closets” about the fear, pain, and suffering that comes with having to hide and lie about one’s identity if that person is LGBTQ.



Bronwen created a piece about the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy because she was discharged from the coast guard for being a lesbian. Katie walked on reading something very unique. Mandy, the stop coordinator for BJU, along with a few Equality Riders, created a parallel of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses to present to BJU. These theses were created to charge BJU as an oppressive institution for LGBTQ students and to ask them to live up to their Christian responsibility to end suffering.

We each walked on one by one and were arrested and taken into a van on the BJU premises. We looked behind us while in the van and saw hundreds of students standing outside the chapel to see what was going on. (By the way, it is extremely difficult for students to look out of the campus because it is guarded with a tall wrought iron fence in the front and barbed wire around other parts).









Just before we walked on, a preacher was yelling to the women of the crowd, saying what a shame it was that we would never know the real love of a man and that we would never have babies in our wombs. With that said, I was very proud that we three women were walking onto an institution that holds similar values. And, every time I am arrested, it is a bit different, but today I felt empowered and beautiful.

We were processed in the van, driven about 20 feet to the sidewalk and let off. I think our fines are between $400-$500. The arrest was very interesting, considering I feel like I have sort of received both the worst and best of arrest situations thus far. I spent 26 hours in a jail where no one treated me as a human, and I spent 10 minutes in a van where the police continually thanked us for being cooperative and nonviolent. It is perplexing to me that all of these different police stations have such different protocols that they are seemingly “bound” to. And, Greenville has the capacity to treat us as people.

We joined the vigil line again once we were released. Flip Benham and his crew from Operation Save America knelt before us and prayed at one time. What he was saying, I am not quite sure.




a member from Flip’s group

We went to lunch, and returned. We heard that a white supremacist group had promised to come, but they never showed. A few others dropped by from time to time to “debate” with us or condemn us.

Not one student came out to talk to us. The reality of this happening, we knew, was very slim. As we know, there are strict rules keeping students on campus, and probably even stricter ones prohibiting them from talking to us.

Regardless of whether or not we got to utter one whisper to a BJU student, I know that we have made an impact. The BJU community knew that we were there and were forced to think about the issue. They knew that we brought a message that said God loves you and affirms you just as you are as a LGBTQ individual.

And this is a message that some never hear in an entire lifetime.

AP article
AP photo