From Deseret News archives:
Gathering protests Y. gay policy
He's been active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all of his 23 years, two of which were spent preaching church principles as a missionary in England.
His hair is neatly trimmed above his ears and he's clean-shaven.
He's also gay.
Kulisch shared his experiences of being a homosexual at a university at which he says his orientation is looked down upon and discriminated against during a Soulforce Equality Ride rally Monday evening at Kiwanis Park.
About 200 people attended the event hosted by Soulforce Equality, a group of young Americans whose professed mission is to put an end to religious-based bigotry against sexual minorities — gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
BYU was the 13th on a 20-stop tour to institutions of higher learning that Equality Ride organizers say discriminate against GLBT students.
"We really feel that these students don't understand our message," said Jacob Reitan, 23, co-director of the Equality Ride. "They have gross misconceptions about what it means to be gay, what gay and lesbian people are seeking in this country. We need to address those misconceptions."
Though Monday evening's rally was held off campus, Reitan and other Soulforce members took that message on to BYU's grounds earlier in the day. That visit resulted in five people — including Reitan — being escorted off campus by BYU police.
Reitan said he could not reach an agreement with BYU officials that would let him give a speech on campus, so he did so without their permission. The result, he said, was being arrested.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said the Soulforce members were issued citations for trespassing and transported back to their hotel. No handcuffs were used, she said.
Reitan said he feels the importance of the message outweighed the risk of getting into trouble at BYU.
"There should be a place for an affirming gay person to speak to the students, to challenge their thinking on this issue," he said. "They're not willing to give that place, so we're here to force the issue.
"Too many gay students are being kicked out, too may gay students are being made to feel like they're second-class people in the church, in this society, and we need to be able to defend our humanity."
The fact that BYU is a private institution owned and funded by the LDS Church doesn't excuse it from such discrimination, Reitan said.
"As long as this school doesn't receive any sort of government funds, it has the right to discriminate," he said. "But just because you can discriminate doesn't mean you should. It doesn't make it morally right."
