I was kicked out of my room so that the new soldiers had a place to stay.  The roommate I had as my confidant, the only person I have been open with, has already been sent away ahead of me. I no longer have someone to talk to personally about all things homosexual.  What’s even more constricting is that one of my new roommates in the tiny room they squeezed me in is a conservative Christian.  There are 3 Bibles staring me in the face and I can’t even mention something of a homosexual nature without the fear of getting lectured.

Don’t get me wrong.  This soldier is awesome and I trust him with my life.  I just don’t trust him with my career. 

 I don’t think he would accept having me as a roommate and would make it very difficult for me if I came out to him – me might even out me to the leadership.  I don’t have a reading on how my other soldier-roommate here would react.  He’s older and seems to be laid back.

I have actually come out to two soldiers in this unit during this deployment. Both of them are gone. One of them left on a medical issue a few months ago, and the other just left recently. Writing for you all has made me consider whether I over-exaggerate possible reactions of my fellow soldiers. 

Would my conservative roommate really react as negatively as I believe?  Maybe he would be worse – or not care at all.

In a time where the president of ‘change’ of ‘hope’ and of a belief that Washington won’t be ‘politics as usual’ one would think the repeal of DADT would help me answer these questions.  Unfortunately, I have no hope for this president following through with his campaign words; I can’t trust my commander-in-chief chief to look out for me. 

I can’t rely on the repeal of DADT to help me start a dialogue with my fellow soldiers unless Congress pushes through legislation that the President seems reluctant to get behind.

I have a short time left with this group of infantry soldiers before I return to my old unit – the unit that knows me best.  I wonder if I should be a little more open with these soldiers and try to open a dialogue.  Since there are only a few weeks, it might be possible to have them live with the knowledge without them feeling trapped.  If the experience ends well for me, maybe it would be a good learning experience for us all.  Then again if someone reacts badly – who knows what might happen.

I’ll let you know if I do tell anyone else and what their reaction is.   It’s kind of a fun experiment, although a bit dangerous.  Some might not consider it a loss if I lose my military job.  That and physical retaliation are my only real fears in thinking about this.  I may lose a few friends, but perhaps I shouldn’t be friends with them if they are that homophobic.

Police arrested Robert Williams, 52, on the weekend after he allegedly got into a man’s car in Mount Airy Forest and “touched his genitals.”

The man in car was an undercover cop.

Williams has been placed on administrative leave while the case continues.

“We are shocked and dismayed by the news,” said Cincinnati Christian University President David Faust in a statement. “This is a personal tragedy for him and for his family, and we lift them up in our prayers.”

Openly gay students are not accepted by the university, and students who come out can be expelled.

Cincinnati Christian University was founded in 1924 and has about 540 undergraduate students.

Two Equality Riders were arrested for trespassing when they walked onto the Mississippi College campus to deliver a letter from an anonymous gay male student who is currently enrolled at the school in Clinton, Mississippi.

The riders were accompanied by two Mississippi College students. After a warning from MC security, the two students stepped back. The Equality Riders continued onto campus and were arrested.

The letter described his experiences as a gay man on the MC campus, where he said he has been the target of anti-gay speech.

Part of the letter read, "I honestly fear that when I do decide to let the public know who I really am, many of the organizations and activities with which I am involved will turn me away." 

"This letter is a clear indication that there are students on this campus who are struggling to have their voices heard," said Katie Higgins, Equality Ride Co-director. "If the student were to openly express the content of this letter, he would be placing himself at risk." 

In 2007, when members of the group visited Mississippi College Clinton police issued a written warning that "riders" would be arrested for congregating in groups of four or more near the campus, the ACLU of Mississippi intervened, and the Clinton police withdrew the unconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment rights.

However, as the "riders" attempted to depart from Clinton, Mississippi, they were stopped three times in less than 10 minutes by police vehicles. Their driver was subjected to threatening demands to "get out of town." Leaders of six national equality organizations wrote a letter of protest to Clinton Mayor Aultman.

More than a dozen LGBT young adults and their allies are taking part in this year’s Equality Ride, visiting 15 Christian schools throughout the South.

The two women arrested Monday were identified as Caitlin MacIntyre, 19, of Houston, Alex Lundy, 21, of Syosset, NY. They were released after being booked and given a court date.

Last week three "riders" were arrested at Heritage Christian University in Florence, Alabama. And, six members of the group were arrested when they attempted to enter the chapel at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida.

More than 200 U.S. colleges and universities have explicit policies that discriminate against LGBT students. 

Since 2006, the Equality Ride has visited 50 schools, hosting public forums, participating in panel discussions, and taking part in worship services and Bible studies. The goal is to inspire further conversation and to empower students, faculty, and administrators to make their school welcoming to all students.

But the bus tour often has been met with opposition from schools, and resulted in the arrests of some Soulforce members.

Two members of the group were arrested last year at the headquarters of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs.

About 20 demonstrators held a vigil outside the headquarters, quoting from some of the FOF statements that homosexuality is "choice" and can be "cured;" that homosexuality is harmful; that gays live shorter lives; and that same-sex relationships threaten opposite-sex marriage.

Following the vigil, two protestors entered the headquarters building. Chris Hubble and Leigh Lyon, armed with two dozen yellow roses for Dobson, copies of the Soulforce booklet "A False Focus on My Family," and a DVD letter titled "Dear Dr. Dobson," asked to see the conservative Christian leader.

When they refused to leave they were arrested.

Ten other riders were arrested on trespassing charges after they entered the Bethany Lutheran College campus in Mankato, Minnesota. 

In 2006, 24 Soulforce demonstrators were arrested at a gay "die-in" at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Three others were arrested at Bob Jones University in South Carolina, and others were arrested at Covenant College in Georgia, University of Cumberlands and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky,  

Soulforce members also were arrested at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg; West Point; the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs; Oral Roberts University in Tulsa; Oklahoma; and Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is affiliated with Christian Broadcaster Pat Robertson. 

The organizers of the Equality Ride said they use a collaborative approach, writing to college administrators months in advance and inviting them to work together to design programming that examines diverse points of view — including points of view that affirm gay and transgender students.

Shortly after taking office in 1996 as mayor of Wasilla, a city of about 7,000 people, Palin asked the city’s head librarian about banning books. Later, the librarian was notified by Palin that she was being fired, although Palin backed off under pressure.

Palin alleged attempt at book-banning has been a matter of intense interest since Republican presidential nominee John McCain named her as his running mate last month.

Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, said Thursday that Palin asked the head librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, on three occasions how she would react to attempts at banning books. He said the questions, in the fall of 1996, were hypothetical and entirely appropriate. He said a patron had asked the library to remove a title the year before and the mayor wanted to understand how such disputes were handled.

Records on the city’s Web site, however, do not show any books were challenged in Wasilla in the 10 years before Palin took office.

Palin notified Emmons she would be fired in January 1997 because the mayor didn’t feel she had the librarian’s “full support.” Emmons was reinstated the next day after public outcry, according to newspaper reports at the time.

The Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal Christian preacher in the nearby town of Palmer, said the church Palin and her family attended until 2002, the Wasilla Assembly of God, was pushing to remove his book from local bookstores.

Emmons told him that year that several copies of “Pastor I Am Gay” had disappeared from the library shelves, Bess said.

“Sarah brought pressure on the library about things she didn’t like,” Bess said. “To believe that my book was not targeted in this is a joke.”

One longtime library staffer recalls that the run-in made everyone fear for their jobs.

“Mayor Palin gave us some terrible moments and some rather gut-wrenching moments, particularly when Mary Ellen said she was going to have to leave,” said Cathy Petrie, who managed the children’s collection at the time.

Recent outrage has been fueled by Wasilla housewife Anne Kilkenny, whose 2,400-word critique of Palin’s legacy as mayor is widely posted on the Internet. Kilkenny described Palin’s actions as “out-and-out censorship.”

But the McCain campaign, in a statement, said the charge “is categorically false … Governor Sarah Palin has never asked anyone to ban a book, period.”

Emmons, a former Alaska Library Association president who now goes by Mary Ellen Baker, did not return calls seeking comment.

According to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper, Emmons did not mince words when Palin asked her “how I would deal with her saying a book can’t be in the library” on Oct. 28, 1996, in a week when the mayor had asked department heads for letters of resignation.

“She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied ‘Yup’,” Emmons told a reporter. “And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union would get involved, too.”

Other locals said the dust-up had been blown out of proportion.

“That was many years ago and Sarah never had any intention to ban books,” said David Chappel, who served as Palin’s deputy mayor for three years. “There were some vocal people in the minority, and it looks like they’re still out there.”

Jim Rettig, who heads the American Library Association based in Richmond, Va., suggested that lingering quarrel raises issues that are still relevant as librarians prepare to celebrate Banned Books Week later this month.

“Librarians are very committed to the principles of the First Amendment of the Constitution and that means we don’t allow one individual or a group of people to dictate what people can or cannot read,” he said. “Most librarians if they got that sort of a question would be curious as to what the intent of the questioner was.”

This fall, 17 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight young adults will take part in the Equality Ride to 15 schools throughout the South.

“As young people and students ourselves, we understand that it’s very difficult to learn in an environment where you don’t feel safe,” said 21-year-old Jarrett Lucas, co-director of the Equality Ride. “And students who face harassment or expulsion can’t always speak up for themselves. That’s where we come in. We can speak up for a community where everyone can learn without fear.”

More than 200 U.S. colleges and universities have explicit policies that discriminate against LGBT students Lucas said, adding that some schools without explicit policies nevertheless foster climates where harassment of LGBT students is prevalent.

A 2003 survey of 14 American universities found that more than a third of all LGBT undergraduates had experienced harassment in the past year.

Since 2006, the Equality Ride has visited 50 schools, where they host public forums, participate in panel discussions, and take part in worship services and Bible studies. The goal is to inspire further conversation and to empower students, faculty, and administrators to make their school welcoming to all students.

But the bus tour often has been met with opposition from schools and resulted in the arrests of some Soulforce members.

Two members of the group were arrested last year at the headquarters of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs.

About 20 demonstrators held a vigil outside the headquarters, quoting from some of the FOF statements that homosexuality is “choice” and can be “cured,”  that homosexuality is harmful, that gays live shorter lives, and that same-sex relationships threaten opposite-sex marriage.

Following the vigil, two protesters entered the headquarters building. Chris Hubble and Leigh Lyon, armed with two dozen yellow roses for Dobson and copies of the Soulforce booklet “A False Focus on My Family” and a DVD letter titled “Dear Dr. Dobson,” asked to see the conservative Christian leader.

When they refused to leave, they were arrested.

Ten other riders were arrested on trespassing charges after they entered the Bethany Lutheran College campus in Mankato, Minnesota.

In 2006, 24 Soulforce demonstrators were arrested at a gay “die-in” at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Three others were arrested at Bob Jones University in South Carolina and others were arrested at Covenant College in Georgia, University of Cumberlands, and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky.

Soulforce members also were arrested at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, West Point, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. and Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is affiliated with Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.

The organizers of the Equality Ride said they use a collaborative approach, writing to college administrators months in advance and inviting them to work together to design programming that examines diverse points of view – including points of view that affirm gay and transgender students.

The 2008 Equality Ride is focused on the South, with stops from Virginia to Oklahoma and from Florida to Kentucky. The bus will visit more seminaries this year, including a planned stop at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex.

The riders will visit historically black colleges for the first time this year, with stops planned at Morehouse College and Spelman College.