BELIEVE it of NOT: the march to GAY Rights starts with Rice University

Being a gay Christian isn't easy. It's especially controversial at some conservative religious schools where policies don't welcome the non-straight crowd and could even have them kicked out.

Darren Arquero knows this. But he's still choosing to take a semester off from the comforts of Rice University for a two-month-long roadtrip, stopping at 16 universities where gay students like him face institutional and social discrimination.

From SoulForce

"It's going to be a huge culture shock," said Arquero, 21. Despite growing up as a Filipino-American Catholic in Sugar Land, he's felt accepted and comfortable coming out as gay, so this'll be the first time he's speaking out in places that might not want to hear what he's trying to say.

Arquero's a part of a 26-person team of young people, the SoulForce Equality Riders, who engage in dialogue on faith and sexuality on behalf of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning communities. The organization practices nonviolent resistance, citing Mahatma Gandhi as inspiration and using his term "soul-force" as their name.

Since 2006, SoulForce has organized the cross-country trip, similar to civil rights activists' Freedom Rides in the 1960s. SoulForce's headquarters are in Lynchburg, Va., also home to Jerry Fallwell's Liberty University.

Caitlin MacIntyre, 20, participated in the 2008 ride and left Rice in the fall to direct this year's.

"I'm most excited about the people that we have on this year's ride," said MacIntyre. Among the group: a 25-year-old Mormon who came out two days before his wedding, a bisexual woman dismissed from her university because of her female partner, a transgender Baptist student from Plano and a Reformed Christian inspired by the Equality Riders to form her school's first Gay-Straight Alliance.

MacIntyre, too, has a story. With a gay father (well, two gay dads now), she saw Christian homophobia first hand, forced to leave the Lutheran church in search of a more inclusive body.

Nearly every denomination has struggled with decisions over contemporary sexuality and the gay community. A majority of the country's largest seminaries don't offer courses on sexuality issues or LGBT studies, leaving many clergy unable to adequately address these populations, according to the Religious Institute, a multi-faith nonprofit group based in Connecticut.

The silence over homosexuality or discriminatory policies put in place keep a lot of young gay people from even considering joining a church.

"All of my gay friends in Houston say, 'what are you doing?'" said Arquero. They don't get it, and they don't understand why he doesn't just leave Christianity rather than fight for a place for gays within it.

Now a nondenominational Christian who attends welcoming churches like theMetropolitan Community Church, Arquero didn't want to give up on his beliefs.

"I've questioned a lot about my religion, but when I turned to religion, I found that God is actually calling me to do this," he said. "It's more important than anything I've done in my life."

The trip is also serving as research for his senior thesis as a women and gender studies major. He's studied Christianity and homosexuality and Islam and homosexuality. For his thesis he wants to write about faith-based activism among LGBTs.

"A lot of people are so afraid to speak out, but doing this is better than being silent about it," Arquero said.

The group will be stopping by three schools in Texas: Baylor University in Waco and Hardin Simmons University and Abilene Christian University in Abilene. Click here for their full route.

Posted by Kate Shellnutt at March 3, 2010 01:00 PM