Newspaper Representations of the Soulforce Equality Rides

• In Event: Homophobia and its Representations: Families, Identity and Identification

Abstract

This essay analyzes mainstream discourse about the Equality Ride movement, a form of student anti-homophobia activism sponsored by Soulforce in which activists lead demonstrations about the heterosexist policies at conservative colleges and universities. A feminist rhetorical reading of several newspaper articles about the movement concludes that mainstream characterizations of the movement reify patriarchy by marginalizing the activists, focusing on the activists’ arrests, and unfairly framing some of the schools as especially hospitable.

Author

• Leland Spencer, Univ of Cincinnati