www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

September 26, 2008

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 3

Ohio U. student joins bus tour of anti-gay campuses

by Eric Resnick

Frankfort, Ohio-When this fall's Soulforce Equality Ride departs Washington, D.C. to engage in dialogue about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people, an Ohio University student will be aboard.

Zak Rittenhouse, 21, will be one of the 18 riders attempting to engage students and faculty at 15 mostly southern colleges when the tour sets off on October 1.

Soulforce challenges homophobia at its source, religious bigotry, through non-violent civil disobedience in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi.

Equality Riders arrive at institutions typically known for their role in the anti-gay religious world, or for outright discrimination, and engages people in cafeterias, coffee shops and classrooms.

Some schools have welcomed the Equality Riders, and have helped facilitate symposiums on equality and other programs.

Other schools have been hostile and attempted to keep the LGBT people off their campus by having them arrested.

The Equality Ride began in 2006 with a stop at Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

This year's ride will return to Liberty and make stops at Ouachita Baptist University

Zak Rittenhouse

in Arkansas, Southwestern Assemblies of God University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas, Heritage Christian University in Alabama, and Simmons College of Kentucky, which the closest it will come to Ohio.

The bus will also stop at two historically black colleges in Georgia, Morehouse and Spelman. These schools, though very progressive and welcoming of LGBT students,

have historical ties to the Baptist church. The administrations of these schools welcomes the riders, and the interaction there will be focused on building ties instead of direct action.

Rittenhouse is studying communications and public advocacy at Ohio University's Chillicothe branch, and was introduced to Soulforce and its activities by a friend while putting together an LGBT student group there.

Rittenhouse describes himself as a person of deeply rooted Christian faith, and also having been the victim of its discrimination.

One of only 90 people in his high school class, Rittenhouse came out as a freshman and in 2005, took his boyfriend to the prom.

"I had a strong group of friends," said Rittenhouse. "They realized I was the same person they knew since kindergarten and accepted me."

A snag occurred, said Rittenhouse, when the school secretary refused to sell him a prom ticket.

"A friend bought the ticket for me," Rittenhouse said. "We had a great night.'

Rittenhouse and his date walked in and went to center stage for introduction like the other couples, but when he later saw the prom video, he discovered he and his date had been edited out.

Further, because of Rittehouse, local

ministers delivered sermons about how gay people were the cause of the downfall of youth.

"Conservative Christian theology runs rampant here and it makes people fearful of coming out," Rittenhouse said.

Frankfort is just west of Chillicothe, about 40 miles south of Columbus. It has about 4,500 residents.

"Those experiences hurt," said Rittenhouse. "Their homophobia was based on religion."

Rittenhouse said he's an Equality Rider to be the voice for students who may not be able to speak.

The ride is Rittenhouse's first experience with civil disobedience, and he has been training and reading the works of King and Gandhi.

"I'm a little scared to be arrested," Rittenhouse said, "but we don't choose to be arrested. The schools choose to have us arrested. If that's what they choose, then so be it."

During the ride, Rittenhouse will be blogging for Whosoever magazine, an online publication for LGBT Christians and will be doing a weekly podcast with its editor.

The ride lasts six weeks, from October 1 to November 13.

Rittenhouse can also be followed at www.soulforce.org/zak_rittenhouse.

Prop. 8 foes ahead in poll, but behind in money race

by Anthony Glassman

San Francisco-The last two months leading up to the vote on Proposition 8, which would amend California's constitution to bar same-sex marriage, is seeing a flurry of activity that leaves activists' heads spinning on both sides of the issue.

Polls show that the new ballot wording, changed in July by state Attorney General Jerry Brown to show that it would remove an existing right of same-sex couples to marry, caused a drop in support for the amendment.

The latest Field Poll last week shows 55 percent against the amendment, 38 in favor. The numbers were 51 to 42 in July. However, pro-gay advocates warn that such polls often underestimate the support for antigay initiatives, and that the amendment's opponents need a further increase of at least five percent.

This could come from television advertising, which the pro-gay side began airing this week. Both sides promise to blanket the airwaves until November 4, spending millions of dollars.

While the pro-gay side initially had an advantage in fundraising, the anti-gay side has now edged ahead.

Supporters of Prop. 8 have raised $17.8 million, while opponents only have $12.4 million.

While much of the money for the anti-

gays is coming from churches like the Mormons or religious-affiliated groups like the Knight of Columbus, a Catholic social organization, the pro-gay side is seeing donations from big-name celebrities.

Some of the biggest gay names in show business are notably absent from donation reports.

Brad Pitt donated $100,000 to the cause, as did director Stephen Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom headed to New York on September 25 to raise money to oppose the amendment. He

and New York Gov. David Paterson were headlining the $5,000-a-head fundraiser.

However, some of the biggest gay names in show business are notably absent from donation reports.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DiRossi, who were just married in California, made headlines with their nuptials. The publicity surrounding their marriage, talked about at length on DeGeneres' talk show, is a great boost to the campaign to defeat Prop. 8. Neither woman, however, has donated any money to the cause.

Nor has Rosie O'Donnell, who was wed in San Francisco in 2004. Her marriage was one of thousands later nullified by the California Supreme Court.

Elton John and Melissa Etheridge, two of the best-known LGBT people in popular music, have also not donated, nor have directors Gus Van Sant, Joel Schumacher and Bryan Singer, or producers Greg Berlanti of Brothers and Sisters or Marc Cherry of Desperate Housewives.

Will and Grace creator Max Muchnick did donate, and was joined by super-producer David Geffen.

One of the largest individual donations in the campaign came from David Maltz of Cleveland, who donated $500,000 to defeat the amendment.

While previous ban amendment attempts in other states were, in part, efforts to bring

out conservative voters to support George W. Bush's reelection campaign, an increase in voters for Democratic contender Barack Obama might actually hinder efforts to shoot down the amendment.

"There's no question that African-American and Latino voters are among our strongest supporters," Frank Schubert, campaign manager for Yes on 8, told the New York Times. "And to the extent that they are motivated to get to the polls, whether by this issue or by Barack Obama, it helps us."

Pro-gay advocates are trying to counter that effect by holding casual events in restaurants in predominantly black neighborhoods.

"This is black people talking to black people," said Ron Buckmire, the president of the Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition, an organization for LGBT people of color in Los Angeles. "We're saying, 'Gay people are black and black people are gay. And if you are voting conservative on an anti-gay ballot measure, you are hurting the black community."

Marriage ban amendments are also on the ballot in Florida and Arizona, where a similar measure was defeated two years ago, the only time one has lost. A measure to bar gays and lesbians from adoption is on the Arkansas ballot, and one to repeal a local equal rights law will be considered by voters in the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck.

Blessing of the Animals

A special service to celebrate all of God's creatures

Bring your pet to church to receive an individual blessing A social hour will follow for guests and their caretakers

Sunday, October 12, 10:30 a.m.

LIBERATION

United Church of Christ

13714 Madison Avenue

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

216-521-5556