Evangelist’s Word-spreading draws words from students

A familiar scene on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard became a heated face-off… A familiar scene on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard became a heated face-off yesterday afternoon.

Brother Matt Bourgault, a “campus evangelist” and regular around Pitt’s main campus, attracted spectators with his preaching — based on Biblical quotes — against homosexuality and other sexual preferences. He bore a sign reading “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” and “AIDS: Judgment or Cure?” According to Bourgault, he has visited college campuses across the eastern seaboard, preaching “the word of God.”

As the crowd around him grew, the sidewalk in front of the Union Lawn became impassable, and several students shouted retorts at Bourgault and those preaching near him, who came from the Free Gospel Church of Export, Pa.

“I’d rather go to my hell than your heaven,” Pitt senior Kathy McHoes said.

At 1 p.m., members of the Rainbow Alliance arrived at the corner with signs and a rainbow flag, which Alliance Vice President Matt Rabatin draped over his shoulders as he circled Bourgault.

“We don’t want you here,” Rabatin said.

“He has no right to preach his word to people who don’t care,” said Sara Fatell of the Rainbow Alliance.

At 1:15 p.m., as the crowd blocked the entire sidewalk, Pitt police officers confronted Bourgault about the disturbance.

“Get off my sidewalk,” one said to Bourgault.

Bourgault accused the officers of “violating [his] civil rights and freedom of speech.” The officers told him he could say anything he wanted, as long as he did not block the pass.

The exchange continued until Pitt Police Chief Tim Delaney arrived 10 minutes later and spoke to Bourgault as well.

“The chief was on his way to a meeting and decided to stop and help,” said Cmdr. Kathy Schreiber of the Pitt police, who was also on the scene.

In what another Pitt police officer called “a happy medium, where no one’s rights got violated,” Bourgault was allowed to move to University property in front of the Union, where he continued to sermonize as Rainbow Alliance members and other students surrounded him with their own signs.

The protest continued for more than two hours, finally dissipating completely between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Bourgault remained unfazed by the response, saying, “Students who refuse the Word will not stop me.”