Five members of a gay rights group targeting BYU this week were removed from the campus and issued citations on Monday.

Brigham Young University told representatives of the Soulforce Equality Ride that they would not be allowed to demonstrate on campus. But on Monday afternoon, a group of riders and one rider's parents were cited for shouting and handing out literature near the Wilkinson Student Center.

The group included Jake Reitan of Minneapolis, co-director of the Equality Ride; Reitan's parents, Randi and Phil Reitan; Rebecca Solomon of Houston; and Diane Bedwell of Ellensburg, Wash.

"This is the fourth school where we've had arrests take place," said Richard Lindsay, spokesman for the Equality Ride. "Most of the schools we've visited so far have been pretty generous and pretty welcoming, and we've been able to do discussions and presentations on campus without a problem."

BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said the riders were crossing a line that had previously been set by BYU.

"We had made it very clear that visitors were welcome on campus with restrictions, but could not use campus as a public forum," Jenkins said.

They were asked to stop the activities and leave campus but refused.

"They knew that they were in violation," Jenkins said.

BYU wasn't surprised by the demonstration, though. Someone from Soulforce called ahead and told school officials that members of the group would be on campus, what they would be doing and where to find them.

According to Soulforce's Web site, the group planned "to tell Brigham Young University that their anti-gay policies, based on Mormon beliefs, cause (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) suffering."

Lindsay said Soulforce had been negotiating unsuccessfully with BYU since January to be allowed to speak to students on campus.

"They went onto campus and attempted to make a speech and do a formal presentation of issues that are affecting lesbian and gay students at BYU," Lindsay said.

The Equality Ride also held a rally at Kiwanis Park on Monday night.

The group sent out a news release on Saturday saying Gene Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal bishop who was scheduled to speak at the event, could not attend.

The riders also altered plans to march onto campus from the Provo temple carrying Easter lilies.

That event is now scheduled to begin at the intersection of Bulldog Boulevard and North Canyon Road at noon today.

A new event also has been added to the group's agenda. A "die-in," in which riders will hold a demonstration in which they drop lifelessly to the ground, will begin after an 11:30 a.m. news conference at the start of the march route.

The "die-in" is intended to symbolize death, "because of the high number of suicides of gay and lesbian Mormons," Lindsay said.

Anna Chang-Yen can be reached at 344-2549 or annac@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.