In the first of
The Advocate’s series of dispatches from
the Equality Ride to antigay colleges, the young
co-organizer connects his activism to the civil rights
leaders who inspired him—and describes what
happened when the riders showed up on Jerry Falwell’s
doorstep
In May 1961 a
young man came to Washington, D.C., for the first time to
embark on the Freedom Rides, a tour through the South that
challenged the unjust laws of segregation and changed
the conscience of the United States. Now a congressman
from Atlanta, John Lewis traveled with other
visionaries through Anniston and Birmingham, Ala., with a
goal of reaching New Orleans on the anniversary of the
Brown v. The Board of Education Supreme
Court decision on May 17.
The Freedom Rides
sought to test enforcement of the Supreme Court’s
ruling in the 1946 Irene Moore case, declaring that the
segregation of interstate travelers was
unconstitutional. Along the way John Lewis and the
other Freedom Riders met with horrible violence and were
eventually arrested in Jackson, Miss., where they were
sent to prison for 60 days.
When I first
learned about the actions of congressman Lewis as a high
school student, I was inspired. I was awed by the courage of
his convictions and the determination of his spirit to
bring an end to the suffering caused by racism in the
United States.
After I came out
as gay in my junior year of high school, I dreamed of
one day participating in a similar journey for justice.
During my college
years at Northwestern University, I was frustrated by
the lack of opportunities for young adults to pursue justice
for gay and lesbian people. The GLBT rights movement
does a terrific job of lobbying Congress, organizing
the electorate around pertinent voter initiatives, and
engaging in important and meaningful judicial advocacy. But
what is lacking in the movement for GLBT justice is
the rudimentary aspect of activism that should be the
cornerstone of every major justice movement as it was
during the struggle for civil rights.
At Northwestern
University I continually asked myself, Where are our
sit-ins? Where are our Freedom Rides? Why aren’t
today’s young adults pouring out into the
streets and demanding equality through their words,
and indeed their very presence? My frustration
fostered in me a resolve to do something. Rather than
just thinking about and dreaming about a sustained
movement of young adults fighting for GLBT justice, I
would create the opportunity I sought for others and myself.
But I wasn’t sure what that would be.
I asked myself,
What does a sit-in for gay and lesbian rights look
like? What does a Freedom Ride for gay and lesbian
equality entail? Unlike the struggle for
African-American equality, there are no lunch counters
where we are refused service. There aren’t bus
stations where we can’t sit with our friends.
There aren’t drinking fountains for straights
and drinking fountains for gays. This is surely the source
of the comfort we feel living with GLBT
discrimination.
Ultimately, it
wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that my
idea for a youth-driven stand for GLBT justice took
form. The concept came to me in the most unlikely of
places. I was in a bar in Boystown, the gay
neighborhood of Chicago, and approached an attractive young
man whom I discovered was a Wheaton College student.
Wheaton is a conservative Christian college just west
of Chicago. So I asked, “What is it like to be
gay and a student at Wheaton?”
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Reitan is Young Adult Coordinator at Soulforce. For more
information go to www.soulforce.org.