October 16, 2008
by Gregg Brekke

Six Soulforce Equality Ride participants were arrested Monday, Oct. 13, while trying to attend worship services at the Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU) chapel in Florida.

Since 2006, the Soulforce Equality Ride has visited 50 schools, hosting public forums, participating in panel discussions, and taking part in worship services and Bible studies. Their goal is to inspire conversation and to empower students, faculty, and administrators to make their school welcoming and safe for all students, especially LGBT students.

The Equality Riders held a picnic for PBAU students Sunday and were assured they would be allowed entrance into the chapel the following day. Several students offered to accompany riders into worship, assuming their invitation as guests would override any controversy surrounding the riders' presence.

Equality Riders faced a night of harassment following this picnic. Their bus was vandalized, having its glass door smashed with a hard object, two panes of glass shattered and small portions of the vinyl wrap scratched off.

Upon arrival at PBAU Monday morning, the Equality Riders were restricted to a public area adjacent to the campus. They were greeted by an organized group of parents who tried to dissuade the riders from entering the chapel. During the conversations that ensued, a few PBAU students joined with the Equality Ride group.

One student, in her first year at PBAU, came out as a lesbian to the group. She was able to speak firsthand about the lack of safety for gay and lesbian students on campus, which affirmed Soulforce's reasons for visiting the Christian school: to talk about safety and inclusion for all.

The sixteen Equality Riders then walked to the DeSantis Family Chapel doors at PBAU and were confronted by city police. School officials read a statement that barred the young adults from participating in the worship service, even thought escorted by students with whom they had been talking. A similar statement followed from the West Palm Beach Police Department.

Ten riders were turned away but six remained and were arrested. Those arrested were Jarrett Lucas, 22, from Philadelphia, Danielle Cooper, 19, from Maplewood, NJ, Lauren Parke, 25, from Seattle, Enzi Tanner, 24, from Minneapolis, Nicholas Rocco DeFinis, 22, from Lansdale, PA, and Zak Rittenhouse, 21, from Frankfort, OH.

Students looked on as the young adults were placed in handcuffs and moved into a police van. "I saw some of the students in tears, in shock that their school wouldn't let us into chapel," said rider Tanner, a member of Spirit of the Lakes UCC in Minneapolis.

The Equality Riders were released late Tuesday afternoon, each having been charged with misdemeanor trespassing. Caitlin MacIntyre, Equality Ride media director and rider, noted that a court date had not yet been set but is expected in early November.

Not yet 24 hours after his release, Tanner was still shaken when interviewed while the Equality Ride made its way to Florence, Ala., for their visit to Heritage Christian University. "I was amazed that they didn't let us in to the chapel. I said, ‘they're going to arrest us for trying to enter the house of God.' "

For Tanner, this was a painful reminder of being shunned by a faith community he loved dearly. As he struggled with sexual orientation and gender identity questions, his former church was not willing to accompany his transformation from woman to transgendered man. He was ultimately asked to leave that church prior to finding Spirit of the Lakes UCC.

Further humiliation awaited Tanner upon arrival at the jail. During the intake process, men were separated from women, not by their identity but by their anatomy. He was forced to spend his incarceration with the female population, though he identifies as male.

"I got to think a lot in jail," said Tanner. "What do justice and freedom mean for us? The Apostle Paul did what he needed to do and was jailed for it. Whether we are accepted or not, we are called to continue our proclamation of God's love."

Tanner's stay in the general population was in an isolated cell, with no clock and no sense of time. "In some ways that relates to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT)," said Tanner. "They feel locked inside a body – I still feel locked inside my body – and I don't know when I'll get out."

Having completed five stops on their 15 campus tour, MacIntyre is not discouraged by the vandalism or arrests over the last week. "At every stop there have been lots of welcoming community members," she said. "The positive has definitely outweighed the negative."

"Enzi Tanner and the other Equality Riders are in my prayers and have my support," said the Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer, the UCC's Wider Church Ministries executive for health and wholeness advocacy. "I applaud the courage and tenacity of the Equality Riders to make visible the vulnerability and discrimination LGBT people face, especially on conservative Christian campuses."

Tanner was profiled in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of United Church News. He coordinated the Equality Ride stop at Columbia International University in South Carolina. While in Columbia, the riders were hosted by Garden of Grace UCC.

United Church of Christ News Service