Oklahoma City news

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http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/mailbag/800


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Subject: 2 anti-Westboro Bapt. protests in Oklahoma

There were about 25 counter-protesters in OKC. No one knew exactly where the Kansas idiots would be, but Batch went in the capital and found out. They had them at the bottom of the 23rd st exit off of 235. The Kansas crowd was on the south side where the homeless guys usually are and the OKC group was near the parking lot at the big convenience store.

The group in Moore was much larger, at least a couple of hundred and it was no prayer meeting. It was really festive. A kid of about 18 showed up dressed like Jesus with spiky red blond hair and I think he was a little high. When I arrived the Kansas bunch was singing something to the tune of The Caissons go Rolling Along. The larger group sang Jesus Loves Me. I began on the SW corner with a rather small group, but a lot of young kids came over.

I hope I got good pictures of this next event because a group of about 12 girls, who looked Jr. High age, but could have been older started singing, of their own accord "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and then the other Moore group answered with "Jesus Loves Me" and they kept trading verses and at one point Jesus would wave his arms directing the south group and then turn to direct the north group.

The Kansas people were in the vacant lot on the SE corner. The large group was on the NW corner and spilled to the SW corner. Lots of crazy kids skipping back and forth across the street. Several good signs. One kid was propping his sign on the top of a Moore Police cruiser with the lights flashing, I think. The sign said, "Gay is my Way".

I counted at least 56 motorcycles led by a truck with a USA flag and a POW-MIA flag. There was a really wild bunch in a gray bus that said something like Men in Suits party bus. On one side of it there was a huge poster with that little kid peeing on WBC or Westboro Baptist Church.

There was a rainbow sign that said, "You're not in Kansas any more." One little girl had one that said something like "Jesus loves me and he knows I'm gay." There were a lot of gay kids, and I mean kids below 18. There was a sign in the SW corner group that said. "This is the reason we should support planned parenthood," and had an arrow pointed at the Kansas group.

The Kansas bunch had signs that said Obama is the beast and the anti-Christ, Bloody Obama and a number of others. At one point most of the crowd was yelling Obama and that doesn't happen every day in Moore. Not one precinct in Moore went for Obama and not one precinct was in favor of gay marriage. I would guess that could change in the future because most of these kids were not old enough to vote.

I took a lot of pictures. There was one kid I really was worried about. He was real young, maybe 16, and he had a big orange sign that said, "God does care shit about us." It may have said Jesus. While I was standing there a very well dressed and very nice woman came up to the kid and said, "yes he does" and the kids said, "not about us gay kids". She was very nice and told him that was not true. He told her about something that happened last night somewhere, maybe church. He said they were awful and you weren't there. He was really upset. I didn't hear the whole story, but someone had obviously told him that he was not alright.

I can't wait for Gary to get home and download the pictures. The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves and I repeat, it was not a prayer meeting.

Demonstration Counters Westboro Protest(link)

Karen Webb
Moore, Ok

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americans are no longer on the couch

[blonndee]

1. Wow! I lived in Moore for 4 1/2 years and I'm very surprised

to see that such a supportive rally occured.

[a la izquierda]

2. I am very proud...

still in Mexico, but I know that the University of Oklahoma's GLBT had a counter protest as well. I wish I could have gone, and would have had I been home.

See, regionalists, we're not a bunch of knuckle-dragging, racists, anti-gay right-wingers in Oklahoma. I love my adopted state and am very proud that such venomous hatred was met with love.