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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