Soulforce, a religious gay rights organization, plans to highlight diversity issues in Georgia’s college system when its “Equality Ride” visits Morehouse University and Spelman College Oct. 9 and 10.
The Equality Ride announcement comes as Southern Voice completes a survey of Georgia’s top colleges, which shows Spelman and Morehouse have both made strides in including openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students through non-discrimination policies and academics.
“Most people see the Equality Ride as a ride to places where discrimination against GLBT students is blatant, and certainly with Morehouse and Spelman it’s not the case,” said Jarrett Lucas, co-director of the Equality Ride.
The Equality Ride has visited over 50 Christian colleges in the past years, and has made national headlines as members were arrested in social justice protests. This year marks the first time Soulforce is visiting historically black colleges.
Neither Spelman nor Morehouse would comment on Soulforce, but school officials expressed surprise that Soulforce would visit them. Spelman scored in the top 5 on Southern Voice’s survey.
Southern Voice polled the colleges on topics ranging from whether they provided sensitivity training on gay and transgender issues, to domestic partnership benefits and official recognition of student groups. Of the 15 schools polled, Mercer University, Morehouse and Southern Polytechnic State University chose not to respond. Morehouse and SPSU’s scores are generated from publicly available data.
No school scored a perfect 100, but Emory University and Agnes Scott College, both private institutions, scored 83.6 percent. The highest-ranking public school was University of Georgia Athens, with 68.6 percent, followed closely by Valdosta State University.
LESSONS LEARNED
The survey doesn’t take Spelman’s other gay-inclusive efforts into account. The all-female college houses black lesbian and feminist author Audre Lorde’s papers. It also supported the screening of a 2006 film, “No Hetero,” a documentary that uses the experiences of gay and lesbian students at Morehouse and Spelman to look at the broader issue of sexual orientation discrimination among African Americans.
Although a Morehouse student violently beat another for a perceived homosexual advance in 2002, the college has reached out to its gay students. Morehouse has hosted anti-homophobia workshops and supports a student group that created a “No More No Homo” initiative last year.
Morehouse Police Chief Vernon Worthy said diversity training is a key step in training a new officer.
“Whenever we bring someone in here we make very certain they understand that we have a very diverse population here,” he said.
Lucas said the visits to Morehouse and Spelman will be to learn from and celebrate the schools’ achievements and take those lessons to other less accepting campuses.
“In going to Morehouse and Spelman before Simmons College [a Christian campus located in Louisville, Ky., and also a historically black university], we can take some of those experiences from those communities to Simmons, which hasn’t been as open,” he said.
NO DP BENEFITS AT STATE SCHOOLS
When Phuong Tong chose her college she didn’t care about how the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, about 45 minutes from Atlanta, would treat her as a lesbian; she just wanted to find a good school, preferably away from home. Now, after visiting another school, she wonders if she made the right choice.
“Back in high school I lived in Cobb County, and it’s very conservative and no one really likes homosexuals. I came out to a few close friends my sophomore year, but I wasn’t really out,” said Tong, 20, a junior majoring in biology.
Like many gay students, Tong didn’t research the gay life at UWG, and now after visiting Kennesaw State University, she’s thinking of transferring.
“It just seemed like at KSU it was more open and no one cared,” she said.
Kennesaw State outperformed UWG in the Southern Voice survey and has promoted Dr. Theresa Joyce, an open lesbian, to assistant provost.
Every state school lost points for not being able to offer domestic partnership benefits to its employees. Despite the University of West Georgia, UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and the Medical College of Georgia petitioning the Board of Regents to be able to do so over the past several years, no progress has been made toward DP benefits from the Regents and they remain mum on the subject.
Health insurance is administered for all of the state’s public colleges and universities by the Regents, who are appointed by the governor. Gov. Sonny Perdue has stated publicly he does not support DP benefits for gay couples.
SUPPORT FOR GAY STUDENTS, STAFF
Although not entitled to the same amount of benefits as his straight colleagues, Dr. Jim Elledge left his home in New York ...
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