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Anti-Gay Marriage Tour Sees Its Largest Crowd
Tuesday in Madison, Wisconsin, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) saw its largest crowd yet, but counter demonstrators continue to outnumber NOM supporters throughout their 2010 bus tour.
Officials behind NOM's ‘Summer
for Marriage Tour 2010’ walled off hundreds of demonstrators from their rally
in their tenth stop of the tour.
One head count put NOM
supporters at about 54 and counter protesters at 466.
Following this, NOM
supporters were outnumbered again on Monday in Indianapolis, Indiana
3 to 1. Other stops have been equally sparse, some with as few as 20
supporters.
In Indianapolis when a sign calling for violence
against gay men and lesbians was spotted in the crowd, the mood quickly turned dismal.
The sign featured “The Solution
To Gay Marriage” in red and was signed by Larry Adams of the Cross Bearer
Ministry in Indianapolis.
In an interview Adams commented: “The Bible says the last days men's
minds will get confused. I'm trying to tell them the right thing out here
because I care for them and I don't want 'em to go to hell”.
When asked whether he
believed being gay was a choice, Adams
responded that the devil had tempted him in the past.
He added: “I was once
confused myself until I was about 40 years old,” he said. “And I started
reading the Bible, somebody told me about reading the Bible and I started
reading it. And now I know what's right and what's wrong”.
Executive director of
Freedom to Marry, Evan Wolfson, called on NOM officials to repudiate Adams.
He stated: “NOM's Summer for
Marriage anti-gay bus tour has devolved from a media gimmick to a display of
prejudice and incitement to violence. All Americans are harmed by the
divisiveness, prejudice and violence that NOM's actions invite”.
John Keep, Equality Indiana
President said that by showing the film Out In Silence at a local church
his group along with Stonewall Democrats, Freedom to Mary, Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) was a way of protesting the rally.
After skipping three
rallies, Brian Brown, the group's president, rejoined the bus tour in Madison.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino of
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison, told the crowd that “gay bashers and gay
bashings have no place among us,” a possible reference to Monday's anti-gay
sign.
Julianne Appling of the
Wisconsin Family Action attempted to discredit the large counter protest in her
remarks by saying: “Thank you all for coming. [We hoped for a larger turnout]
but our people actually have jobs”.
The bus tour, which includes
stops in 23 cities, is expected to end with a Washington D.C.
rally on August 15.