Birmingham

Our amazing friends in Mississippi drove us 2/3 of the way to Birmingham to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Thursday night after class. After saying our sad goodbyes in the Wal-Mart parking lot (and using the restroom inside and encountering some really terribly racist graffiti there), we switched cars and our new friend Steve drove us the rest of the way to Birmingham.

During the car ride, we got to know Steve - he is a former student of Samford University in Birmingham, and I heard so much of my own experience reflected in the stories he shared. He took a long time to come to terms with his own identity, because it wasn't even considered an option to be LGBTQ. This journey has challenged his faith sometimes to the point of unbelief. He's also had really rough patches with his family, but feels like it will all work out one way or the other in the end - and that even if that means the heartbreaking reality of not being accepted by them, he will find the support he needs. And many more areas of overlap that are perhaps too personal or painful to share in such a public way here. It was almost eerie. But it was great to relate in such an intense way with someone who's seemingly just passing through my life. It also reminded me how personal this journey and everything with Sanctuary Collective truly is for me.

Late that night we pulled up to Emily's apartment. She had stayed awake for us, and we stayed up a little while longer reconnecting until we were all just too sleepy to stay awake.

The next morning, Emily let me borrow her car to drive to Samford, where I met with a group of about 10 students and professors. Samford University recently changed their policy from wording that used to be similar to Mississippi College's policy to now prohibiting "sexual misconduct," which is defined as "heterosexual/homosexual intercourse, adultery, unwanted fondling and rape." Concerns about equating consensual sexual activity between consenting adults with unwanted activity aside, this is a HUGE step for a university affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Samford is a university that calls their students to abstinence, and to have a policy that clearly treats instances of sexual activity the same way regardless of who the second party might be without feeling the need to single out LGB students vaguely or unfairly is a milestone.

And Samford students feel the difference. The fear to stand out as an ally or as queer may still be there, but it is social rather than institutional. My meeting with them was largely concerned with what actions they could take next to keep the dialogue about LGBTQ identity and the Christian faith moving forward. We ended the meeting with some great ideas and concrete next steps, and I left campus so excited to see what they do next.

On our last day in Birmingham we visited the Civil Rights Institute. This was my second visit - the first being two years ago with a much larger group. It was really meaningful to be able to take a much longer time watching each video and reading through each description with just the three of us who went. It all reminded me that change is possible, but that there is still so far to go and so much work to be done. It also struck me that so many of the people who took the strongest and most public stands for equality in the 1960s were young people too. May we look to those who took a stand before us for civil rights. May we learn from them, and may we continue the work of racial justice while working toward LGBTQ equality and inclusion.