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In this issue:
-Take THAT, Freddie Phelps! (3)
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Here's a press release from a protest/fund raiser last Friday. Very
constructive!
(For more information, contact Keith Orr, 734-994-3677, 734-994-0558, or
keith@autbar.com.)
ANN ARBOR, MI - When the Reverend Fred Phelps came to town, the gay
community here decided not to get mad. They decided to get rich.
Among the Ann Arbor locales the Kansas-based Phelps and his band elected
to picket was the /aut/ BAR, a gay-owned restaurant, bar and community
gathering place. When co-owner Keith Orr heard that his establishment
was being targeted, he wanted to respond constructively. He and his
partner, Martin Contreras, did not want to promote a counter-demonstration,
feeling that Phelps gains the most attention - and hence is most effective -
when he provokes anger and outrage from his opponents. Rather, Orr decided
to use his Phelps visit to the community's advantage.
Phelps's plans to picket the bar came to light only two days prior to his
scheduled February 17, 2001 demonstration. With little time, Orr used the
Internet to organize a unique fundraising scheme. In an email message to
customers, supporters, and friends, he proposed that people pledge money
to the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project (WRAP), a local gay advocacy group
and community center, for every minute that Phelps picketed the bar. In
this way, Orr explained, the longer Phelps stayed to spew hate, the more
money he would raise for WRAP. He and Contreras kicked off the drive by
pledging $1 per minute.
Contreras explained why he felt it was important to organize a response to
Phelps. "When I was first coming out fifteen years ago people told me,
'You've got to watch out for this so-called reverend from Kansas named
Phelps. He's out to wage war against the gay community.' He had been
showing up at funerals of people who had died of AIDS with signs claiming
that gay people would burn in hell. At the time he was just a blip on the
radar screen. But when he protested at Matthew Shepherd's funeral he
became a national menace."
At the same time, Orr continued, "I didn't want to give Phelps what he
wanted," meaning a counter-demonstration. "But just ignoring him seemed
wrong."
Only two minutes after Orr sent out his email message pledges began to
pour in, not only from Ann Arbor, but from as far away as New Hampshire,
Texas and California. The pledge drive gained such momentum that by the day
of Phelps's demonstration - only 48 hours after Orr and Contreras kicked
off the drive - friends and supporters of Ann Arbor's gay community had
promised to contribute a total of $107 for every minute Phelps picketed
the /aut/ BAR.
"When I began the pledge drive I wasn't necessarily expecting anything
big," Orr said. "I just wanted to give people an opportunity to turn
Phelps's message of hate into something positive for our community."
Even so, the size and speed of the response surprised him. "Normally a
fundraising event of this magnitude takes months of planning and a lot
of up-front costs. In 48 hours we raised over $6000 without spending a
dime. I was astonished."
Pledges arrived in diverse amounts and from a wide range of sources. They
varied in amount from as little as 10 cents per minute to as much as 5
dollars per minute. "The great thing about this kind of fundraiser is that
no one is excluded. People can participate at any economic level," said
Orr. The range of contributors included neighboring business owners, a
high school Gay/Straight Alliance and individual members of the Ann
Arbor police force.
On February 17, the day of the protest, Phelps's band numbered only four
adults and two small children. Instead of confronting the hate-mongerers
and giving them the attention they craved, over one hundred community
members and supporters gathered in the bar on a Saturday afternoon,
celebrating while they counted the minutes that Phelps's cronies stood
outside raising money for Ann Arbor's gay community.
That afternoon WRAP Board member Linda Lombardini received one notable
pledge. "A father and his young son were driving past the bar and saw
the protestors out front," she explained. "The son asked his father who
they were and what they were doing there. The father stopped the car and
brought his son into the restaurant to demonstrate to him that gay people
are no different from anyone else. When he realized that we were holding a
fundraiser he handed his son a ten-dollar bill to give to me."
"We view this as a form of economic containment," Orr said. "Phelps is
free to spread his message, however perverse we find it, wherever he
wants. The First Amendment protects his right to do that. But we turned what
could have been a negative into a positive. This has been an incredible
community-building experience for us.
"We hope that cities and towns across the country will do this everywhere
he goes. I get a charge thinking that every time he hits the road he will
help us build our communities and fund our organizations."
Such a sensational idea!! Just a wonderful use of another's ugly energy.
------------------------------
Fan bloody tastic. An amazing and intuitive turning of the tables.
Once upon a time there was a community that was hassled by
friars forcing people to buy flowers at gunpoint. The whole town
was in an uproar. "What do we do?" they wondered.
The town alcoholic suggested that his cousin Hugh could rectify
the situation. Sure enough Hugh took care of the problem.
The moral of the story: Hugh and only Hugh can prevent florist
friars.
Some of you probably know many of these already, but it's a great little
list of handy tidbits of household knowledge.
Things Your Mother Probably Told You But You Were Not Listening
1. Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent
ice cream drips.
End of silverfoxesclub-digest V1 #153
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