On God's Campus: Voices from the Queer Underground

As you know, in 2024, REAP transitioned from working primarily on the Hunter lawsuit to digging in grassroots style and supporting students directly on their campuses. While hosting our fireside chats, we’ve been able to meet some of the most incredible humans, just stuck in the precarious situation of being queer on a non-affirming Christian campus. So today, we want to introduce you to one of those souls. Katie joined us on the podcast to talk about her journey. If this is anything like yours, we encourage you to reach out on our website. 2025 is pretty scary, but we have antidotes for the scaries, so please tune in as we sit down with Katie from Liberty University.

As per REAP’s commitment to fight for the safety, bodily autonomy, justice, and human rights of LGBTQ people,  REAP has been hosting private meetings and workshops with LGBTQ students around the US. These students are unique because they are living, working, and learning on the very non-affirming Christian campuses spoken of on this podcast. This episode gives you a look into the lives of Caitlyn and Lily, two students at the University of Southern Virginia. Join Crystal Cheatham and Erin Green as they sit down to chat about what a culture of silence truly inspires in students, staff, and even administrators.

On this #GivingTuesday we bring you two stories of students who deserved better. And while we may not have been able to sway the Department of Education this year, we are leaning into our grassroots efforts to support students where they are. Just imagine what REAP could have done if we were around when Alex and Danielle were in school. Tune in and get excited with us. We are not done with 2024 just yet.

Angela Whitlock was a huge part of the underground LGBTQ movement at Samford. Hers is a success story of someone who relied on her community to execute a groundbreaking campaign at a conservative Christian school in the South. As the creator of Samford’s OUTLaw, she joins co-hosts Crystal Cheatham and Erin Green to discuss the triumphs and woes of building the group, her journey coming out in a Baptist family, and why she chose Samford in the first place.

After the appeal for Hunter v. DOE failed, we realized that while the law would allow for discrimination on non-affirming college campuses, queer students on those campuses will need our support even more. This brings us to two points: 1. We need to raise funds to support them, and 2. We need to have a conversation about the separation between church and state. Is it getting better or worse?

On today’s episode co-hosts Erin Green (REAP Director) and Crystal Cheatham (REAP Associate Director) sit down with Plaintiff and former Liberty University student, Lucas Wilson, to discuss what might come next for us, for students, for Christians, and our country, after such a harsh ruling.

This is a special episode of On God’s Campus, with a new update to the Elizabeth Hunter v. Department of Education lawsuit. On July 16th, 2024 we found ourselves again in court watching the appeal of this special Title IX exemptions lawsuit. Three specific things stood out to us during the amicus briefing and we wanted to sit down with some of the plaintiffs to hear their first responses.

Join Erin Green, Director of REAP, and Crystal Cheatham, Associate Director of REAP, as they sit down with plaintiffs Kalie Hargrove and Lucas Wilson. What did they witness and what do they hope this next iteration of the case will bring?

Erin, Paul, and Tori discuss Tori’s experience in religious education, how neuroscience helps us understand implicit biases, and practical solutions for dismantling racism, queerphobia, and transphobia in religious education.

Notes:

• Support Tori’s work: https://www.toriglass.com; https://www.patreon.com/toriglass/
• Find Tori on social media: https://www.instagram.com/toriglass/
• REAP website: https://www.thereap.org/
• REAP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reap_lgbtq
• Support On God’s Campus: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/to-reap-2023
• Axis Mundi Media: https://www.axismundi.us

This podcast was created with the support of The Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity: https://cgre.org/

Produced by Crystal Cheatham of Our Bible App: https://www.ourbibleapp.com

Erin, Paul, and Brad discuss Brad’s book, Preparing for War, the history of the religious right, and their quest for power and dominance in America.

Notes:

Support Brad’s work: https://www.patreon.com/straightwhiteamericanjesus

Find Brad on social media: https://www.instagram.com/straightwhitejc/

REAP website: https://www.thereap.org/

REAP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reap_lgbtq

Support On God’s Campus: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/to-reap-2023

Axis Mundi Media: https://www.axismundi.us

This podcast was created with the support of The Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity: https://cgre.org/

Produced by Crystal Cheatham of Our Bible App: https://www.ourbibleapp.com

Erin, Paul, and Andrew discuss what religious freedom actually means and how it should be made manifest in our society, communities, government, and institutions. 

Notes:

• Support Andrew’s work: https://andrewlseidel.com
• Find Andrew on social media: https://www.instagram.com/andrewlseidel
• REAP website: https://www.thereap.org/
• REAP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reap_lgbtq
• Support On God’s Campus: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/to-reap-2023
• Axis Mundi Media: https://www.axismundi.us
• This podcast was created with the support of The Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity: https://cgre.org/
• Produced by Crystal Cheatham of Our Bible App: https://www.ourbibleapp.com

Erin, Paul, and Kalie discuss Kalie’s experience at Lincoln Christian University, Trans inclusion in the Bible, and purity culture.

Notes:

• Support Kalie’s work: https://propheticimagination.org/
• Find Kalie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/propheticimagination/
• REAP website: https://www.thereap.org/
• REAP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reap_lgbtq
• Support On God’s Campus: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/to-reap-2023
• Axis Mundi Media: https://www.axismundi.us
• This podcast was created with the support of The Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity: https://cgre.org/
• Produced by Crystal Cheatham of Our Bible App: https://www.ourbibleapp.com