Equality U

Equality U
As Americans, we do not tolerate patterns of discrimination based on age, gender, religion, race, or disability. Why is it still acceptable at nearly 200 American institutions of higher learning to discriminate based on sexual orientation? In the spring of 2006, a group of young people traveled the country by bus to challenge this lingering vestige of inequality. They were motivated by their own personal experiences as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Energized by their deep passion and spirit of activism, the Equality Ride visited religious colleges and military academies where students are regularly expelled for coming out.

Equality U is a feature-length documentary following a group of 33 young activists on the Soulforce Equality Ride, a first of its kind, two-month, crosscountry tour to confront anti-gay discrimination policies at 19 conservative religious and military colleges. It is a human story of a group of young people struggling to stand up for what they believe is right. Against the backdrop of the Equality Ride, the film focuses on seven of the "Equality Riders" and two courageous students they encounter along their journey. The Riders, led by Jacob Reitan (23) and Haven Herrin (23), must come to terms with their new role as young activists, deal with internal conflict within the group, and face the daily onslaught from administrators that don't want them on their campuses. And while most of the young Riders identify as Christian, not all of them do so in the same way, if at all.

At each stop, the Riders exercise "relentless non-violent resistance" and often face arrest for trespassing. They must confront the controversial question: "Do schools ultimately have the right to decide who does and doesn't belong?" But even in the most seemingly unwelcoming campuses, the Riders find straight students who are interested in a dialogue.

Can this small group of activists sow the seeds of dialogue as their bus rolls down the highway? How will the road change them? For the Riders that identify as both Queer and Christian, how will the journey challenge or transform their faith? And what happens to the outed gay students they encounter and then leave behind?

Incorporating verité footage, interviews, and personal video journals recorded by the six central Riders themselves, Equality U focuses on the personal stories of our lead characters and the journeys they take during this foray into activism. The story comes through their eyes. They'll make mistakes and they'll have conflict with the outside world and amongst themselves. Equality U looks closely at their personal struggles over the course of the entire tour, allowing us an intimate portrait of a group of young people on the forefront of social change.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Imagine for a moment that you're 19 years old and you're a gay student at one of over 200 conservative Christian or military colleges in the US that ban enrollment of openly gay people. You live in fear that someone will discover your secret. You'll be kicked out of school, ostracized by family and friends. You might even be forced to undergo reparative "ex-gay" therapy. The constant bombardment of negative messages about gay people only serves to fuel your sense of self-hatred.

One day a bus pulls up to your campus. It's filled with young, open, proud LGBT people who've come to your school to proclaim that the anti-gay policies are wrong... that being gay is not a sickness, not a sin and that God loves you just as you are. For the first time in your school's history, supportive students step forward to speak out against the administration.

Imagine how you might feel on that day.
It really happened.
This is the story about that bus.