Each marcher represented one of the dead men and carried a lily. The rally lasted more than an hour, with each marcher waiting until a biography was read before walking from the street corner up onto campus and collapsing on the grass as if dead.

"People are dying, and we can't ignore that any longer," said Haven Herrin, a Soulforce organizer. "We offer the lilies to the university in honor of those who have killed themselves. They couldn't reconcile their LDS faith and their sexual identity. We hope for a safer future."

Police officers knelt by the demonstrators, warning them they would be arrested, then telling them they were under arrest. The demonstrators all voluntarily walked to waiting vans and left without being handcuffed. Police took Soulforce members to their hotel at their request, and the students went with them to the hotel, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said.

Police provided three students with a ride back to campus.

The rally was part of the 2006 Soulforce Equality Ride. The Soulforce riders are traveling to Christian and military colleges and universities to use "relentless nonviolent resistance" to seek "freedom from religious and political oppression" for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, according to the group's Web site.

"We are young people from around the country who have come to BYU to say, 'End religious-based discrimination,' " said Jake Reitan, co-director of the Equality Ride.

BYU was the 13th stop on the seven-week national bus tour. The group planned to leave today for Colorado Christian University in Denver.

Matt Kulisch, 23, a BYU student and LDS Church member, led the procession wearing a BYU athletic department T-shirt. Kulisch was arrested first.

"I'm proud to say that I'm gay," Kulisch said. "I'm also proud to say, without a shadow of a doubt, that God loves me."

Police issued citations to those arrested, Jenkins said. Each faces a May court date and potential fine. Liberato said Soulforce agreed to pay the fine.

Liberato said he returned last year from an LDS mission to Chile, where he helped a gay man return to church activity. Liberato said he was ashamed of the strong anti-gay sentiment he displayed.

"I feel penitent for my actions," said Liberato, who walked hand in hand with Jackson to the die-in and the police van.

Soulforce leaders expressed frustration that BYU didn't allow them to give speeches or hand out literature on campus.

BYU's Jenkins said the university upheld its policy governing outside groups coming to campus. BYU informed Soulforce of its policies weeks ago and made it clear the demonstrators would be arrested and how.

BYU allowed Soulforce members to have one-on-one conversations with students on campus Monday. Twenty people gathered to watch the die-in rally shortly after noon, and several said they were gay or lesbian.