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March 22, 2006

Equality Riders jailed while attempting to enter Oral Roberts University

Equality Riders jailed while attempting to enter Oral Roberts University

The Soulforce Equality Ride bus tour hit another bump in the road when several members were arrested Monday at ultraconservative Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.

The riders were reportedly told that if they walked onto university property, they would be arrested. When approximately seven attempted to cross through the university's gate, they were arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing.

The riders, currently in the middle of their tour of Christian universities and military colleges in the name of gay and lesbian equality, targeted Oral Roberts because of the school's Code of Honor Privilege. The code prohibits students from engaging in homosexual behavior, putting it in the same category as other forbidden actions such as lying, cursing, drinking, and smoking. Oral Roberts does not enroll openly gay students, and a student found to be gay could face expulsion.

“Heterosexual people can fall in love on this campus, date, hold hands,” Equality Ride member Rachel Powell told a local television station. “Homosexual people can not.”

On Thursday the Soulforce Equality Ride bus was defaced while parked outside Lee University in Tennessee. (The Advocate)

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