Dallas Baptist official says LGBT advocates will be allowed on campus, but Fort Worth seminary, Waxahachie school not so welcoming

ADAM BRITT Equality Riders were arrested on the Baylor University Campus in Waco last year. This year, the LGBT advocates are planning stops at three North Texas church-affiliated schools.

Jay Harley says he knew it was just a matter of time before Soulforce came calling.

Harley, dean of spiritual life at Dallas Baptist University, said school officials have been well aware of Soulforce’s annual Equality Ride, a bus tour that takes young activists to conservative college campuses across the country in an effort to foster dialogue on LGBT issues.

“We were expecting an invitation at some point based on what they’ve been doing,” Harley said.

So it was no surprise to Harley earlier this year when the invitation from Soulforce finally arrived. But what may come as a surprise to some is the way in which the school has responded.

Both Harley and Soulforce representatives confirmed that DBU officials have agreed to allow the Equality Riders on campus Oct. 24 for a full day of dialogue with students and faculty.

DBU is one of three North Texas schools Equality Riders will visit this fall as the three-year-old event makes its debut locally. Equality Ride 2008 also will stop at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth on Oct. 27 and Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie on Oct. 29, according to a schedule released by Soulforce on Sept. 9.

DBU, which has an enrollment of 5,300, is affiliated directly with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and indirectly with the Southern Baptist Convention, two groups that condemn homosexuality.

But Harley said DBU officials nevertheless decided to welcome the Equality Riders for two reasons.

“One, we didn’t feel like, as a Christ-centered institution, that the love of Christ was to block the gate,” Harley said. “We also realize that we’re a higher-education institution where there’s a free exchange of ideas. We really want our students to graduate in tune with the issues of the world and aware of the different types of people who are out in the world and know that there are a lot of different people out there they’re going to have to work with.”

Besides, Harley added, the alternative would be to bar Soulforce from DBU’s campus, which likely would prompt Equality Riders to trespass and get arrested — as they have done countless times at other schools over the years.

Dallas City Council members ride a float in the 2007 Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade. Gay Pride parades started out as protests and have morphed into celebrations.

“What would be the benefit of having that happen?” Harley said. “I don’t see where that would benefit the discussion on either side.”

Haven Herrin, a Dallas native who co-led the Equality Ride in 2006 and 2007, said she’s pleased that the bus tour will be making its inaugural visit to her hometown this year. Herrin, 26, now lives in Minneapolis and serves as director of Soulforce Q, the organization’s young adult wing.

The Equality Ride, which began in 2006, has stopped in previous years at Texas A&M University in College Station, Baylor University in Waco, and Abilene Christian University in Abilene, according to Soulforce. In 2008, North Texas will account for three of the Equality Ride’s 15 destinations.

“We have a big hello for the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” Herrin said. “It makes me really happy to see this conversation coming to Dallas.

“We don’t have any sort of misguided notion that we come for a day and they completely switch ideas on the concept of LGBT equality,” Herrin added. “We know that it’s not a change in a day, and in fact that wouldn’t be healthy change. However, just engaging the Equality Riders for one day is a great way to start a conversation.”

While DBU has agreed to welcome the Equality Riders, it’s unclear what type of reception they’ll get at the other two local schools.
A spokesman for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which has an enrollment of 3,500, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment. Unlike DBU, SBTS operates directly under the Southern Baptist Convention, according to the school’s Web site.
Ryan McElhany, a spokesman for Southwestern Assemblies of God University, which has an enrollment of 1,850, said Equality Riders likely will be barred from the interior of the school’s campus. SAGU is affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.

“The early indication from the administration is that they’re welcome to come and stay on the public area that’s outside the university,” McElhany said.

Unfortunately, the Equality Riders may not be willing to settle for that.

“If we take no for an answer, we are communicating a message that it is OK for a school to say no to their [LGBT] students as well,” Herrin said. “That’s not healthy. That’s not safe.”

E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition Septeber 19, 2008.