The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Homosexual rights group again targets Mississippi College

By William H. Perkins, Jr. - Nov 7, 2008 - 2 -

Homosexual rights group Soulforce picketed the campus of Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College (MC) in Clinton on October 19-20, the second time in a year the group came to town to protest what they consider to be the school’s discrimination against “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” students.

Members of Soulforce Q, describing themselves in their media advisory as a “youth-organized bus tour of faith-based colleges,” targeted MC for a return visit because of a section in the school’s student handbook that states, “Sexual impropriety includes but is not limited to participation in or appearance of engaging in premarital sex, extramarital sex or homosexual activities.”

Soulforce considers that section to be discriminatory toward homosexuals.

About 23 protestors held a candlelight vigil on the evening of October 19, on the College Street sidewalk across from the Aven Arts Building toward the rear of the campus. A few students attempted to engage the protestors in brief conversation, but most passed by without acknowledging the protesters. At one point, the occupants of a pickup truck speeding down College Street yelled epithets at the protesters but there was no indication that the occupants were MC students.

Protesters returned October 20 for a morning protest on the College Street sidewalk, followed by a 1 p.m. attempt to enter the campus. A pair of female protesters were detained by campus security officers when they stepped on campus. Local news outlets reported that the women were later turned over to the Clinton Police Department.

Just before the attempt to enter the campus, protesters gathered on the College Street sidewalk and recited an anonymous letter alleged by protest leaders to be an MC student. A small number of MC students joined the protest line in apparent sympathy with the letter writer.

“It may be a shock to find out that there are gay students on campus, but I can promise you, we are here,” the letter states. “…I have come to grips with being gay. I have spent weeks and weeks on my knees before a loving God who accepts me for who I am. I understand now that He created me this way, and I will not continue to cause myself to suffer any longer.”

However, the purported student was not presented or identified because, according to the Soulforce media advisory, “She has stated that she fears the repercussions of coming out and the reactions of her peers and administration.”

Eric Pratt, MC vice-president of Christian development, said the school would not allow outside pressure groups to influence the university’s mission.

“Soulforce continues to undermine traditional, biblical positions. It is clear that Soulforce is not tolerant of individuals or institutions that hold a conservative, evangelical position.

“We will not allow any group to force their agenda upon us. As a Christian university we will protect and teach the biblical truths held by Mississippi College, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, and our constituents,” Pratt said.

This article is reprinted with permission from the Baptist Record, the newspaper of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.

If your church would like more information on how to become involved in ministering to those who struggle with homosexuality, please contact Bob Stith, the SBC’s National Strategist for Gender Issues, at bstith@sbcthewayout.com. To purchase bulletin inserts on this important issue, please visit our online bookstore.

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