Daily Universe Staff

Soulforce's visit to BYU Thursday took place just as the group planned: two members were arrested following a news conference, and members walked around the perimeter of campus until a rally at Kiwanis Park.

BYU officials were not surprised when it came time to make the arrests. Campus spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said BYU was informed in advance that members of the group would attempt to walk onto campus in spite of the university's request to stay off of the grounds.

"We communicated, and they let us know their plan was that they would have a few members come unto campus," Jenkins said. "We were not surprised because we knew that would take place."

On cue, the two members, 21-year old Kourt Osborn and his mother Karel Allen of Kanab, walked a few feet onto campus property and were arrested.

The group stopped at BYU as part of their Equality Ride across the country. Two busses, one eastbound and one westbound, will make visits to 32 universities that the group considers to be discriminatory toward openly gay students. Jenkins said the group was asked to not step onto BYU campus as a direct result of the group's behavior last year.

"We are open to visitors, but we have some restrictions, and one of those is that groups or individuals can't come and make demonstrations," Jenkins said. "Last year, they made it very clear from the first day that they were here to stage a demonstration."

Jenkins said that while the university prohibited Soulforce members from demonstrating on campus Thursday, they did allow the group to utilize a small piece of university property at the corner of Canyon Road and Bulldog Boulevard to conduct their press conference for safety reasons.

"They were technically standing on BYU property, but we were concerned about the safety [of those attending the event], and we were worried that if we had someone in the streets they would be hit in traffic; so, we closed off the one side of traffic so that it could be a safe environment," Jenkins said.

Most students were likely unaware of the group's visit. Throughout the day, small groups of two or three marchers were seen walking around the perimeter of campus. Some wore black T-shirts with white ribbons pinned on them.

Only during the first hour of the march was a large contingency of about 25 marchers seen making the walk. Marchers later told a reporter they decided to complete the six-hour march - which basically ended after four hours - in smaller groups to make their presence known, but not in an intimidating manner.

About 130 people attended the rally at Kiwanis Park following the march. Two BYU students - Tristan Call, a senior studying anthropology who said he was a "straight ally," and Lauren Jackson, who identified herself as a lesbian - spoke before the group began singing the Soulforce theme song. Matt Kulisch, a former BYU student who has since transferred to the University of Utah, emceed the event after Osborn introduced the rally. Other Soulforce members and local residents also spoke.

At the news conference, with mostly just news media present, letters of grievance supposedly written by current and former BYU students were read. Following the reading, Allen and Osborn walked onto campus. Jonathan Kau, associate dean of students, stopped the two just a few feet later to remind them of previous communications. Osborn and Allen proceeded onto campus and were promptly arrested. They were issued a citation and given a court date, then were escorted back to their hotel.

Allen said she chose to take part in the demonstration to show support for her child and to demonstrate that homosexual or transgendered youth still have families. Allen said Osborn was born a female but chose to lead life as a male at the age of 20.

Osborn said stepping onto the campus was "like an out-of-body experience" and that he tried to remember the purpose for the visit to stay motivated.

"As I walked from Kiwanis Park up to campus, I was trying to remember the reasons I came on the ride," Osborn said. "I tried to remember my friends, keeping focused."

Many members of Soulforce said they were there for open dialogue. Adam Tripp, who said he is a former member of the LDS Church, said he took part to engage in conversation and to show that there are gay people who are LDS and have even served missions.

Mike Cramer, 28, who said his beliefs are founded on LDS precepts, also traveled with Soulforce. He reiterated the objective of opening dialogue, which he said would allow students to "express themselves without fear of repercussion."

"They have many students that are suffering in silence, and until they don't feel threatened, they will continue to suffer in silence," Cramer said. "What we're trying for as a group is to promote understanding, dialogue and to do it face-to-face because it's the only way they [students] will have a chance to talk about it."

Emiley Morgan, Sarah Crane, Adam Buchanan, Laurie Frost, Jens Dana and David Rasmussen contributed to this report.

Copyright Brigham Young University 22 Mar 2007