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| About 50 protesters gathered outside the King Center Saturday morning to counter New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Bishop Eddie Long’s march supporting a constitutional ban on gay marriage. (Photo by R.O. Youngblood) |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: RYAN LEE
COMMENTS |
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The rainbow bandana tied around BJ Jackson’s left arm caught the eye of
many of people entering the King Center grounds Saturday morning, braving rain
and cold to march in support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
“Yeah — we people,” Jackson said defiantly, her head nodding
and arms stretched out in a crucified position.
“Amen,” said one woman walking by with her family.
The Dec. 11 “Re-ignite the Legacy” march — coordinated by
Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia
— drew between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to Atlanta Police Department
estimates.
The trek from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s gravesite to Turner Field
was in response to Long’s call for black churches to become more vocal
political players on issues like banning same-sex marriage, reforming the education
and health care systems, and creating economic opportunities for minorities.
“It’s time for us to get back into the conversation of the nation,”
Long told his followers before the march. “Get back into the conversation
and allow those things that we believe, firmly — know there’s a
mandate for us to get [those] accomplished.”
Jackson, board chair of the black lesbian group ZAMI, was among the first of
about 50 gay and lesbian protesters who assembled on the King Center grounds
at 8:30 a.m. hoping to counter the church march, which was set to begin at 9:45
a.m.
But the protesters were soon told by park security that they could not remain
on the premises, so they moved their demonstration onto the streets of Atlanta’s
Sweet Auburn neighborhood. The protest’s visibility and numbers grew once
they gathered on Jackson Street, but they were soon told to move again.
Atlanta Police Officer CJ Franklin first told protesters they were violating
a city ordinance prohibiting signs larger than 2-feet by 2-feet from use in
demonstrations. When protesters refused to believe Franklin, the officer told
them they were assembled on private property and were potentially blocking traffic.
There is no city ordinance restricting the size of protest signs, but the officer
was referring to the police department’s “Guidelines for a Peaceful
Protest,” said Sgt. Connie Locke, APD’s gay liaison, in an e-mail
interview.
“These guidelines are not city ordinances, but they are guidelines issued
by the police department to all organizations that wish to demonstrate or protest
to ensure public safety and public right of way,” Locke said. “Any
[larger signage] presents a safety issue for those utilizing the sidewalk.”
Signs in hand, the protesters finally settled on the corner of Jackson and
Auburn Avenue, the starting point through which all of the church marchers passed.
“I’m looking at the people just stream, and stream and stream down
the sidewalk, and it amazes me how many people will wake up so early in the
morning to support such a hateful message,” Jackson said.
The gay protesters — organized by activists Kevin Bynes, Anthony Antoine
and Craig Washington — encountered little hostility, beyond a man crossing
the street and staring face-to-face with them.
The diverse group was also chided when they chanted, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho!
Homophobia has got to go!”
Standing across the street, Wanda E. White of Atlanta leaned toward the protesters
to mimic their chant, but replaced “homophobia” with “homosexuals.”
“People live their lives like they want to, and I’m not here to
judge them, but once you move God out of society, you have a big problem,”
White told Southern Voice.
As marchers passed the protesters, their comments ranged from “I’ve
got nothing but love for you,” to “You need Jesus” and “In
the name of Jesus, wake up.”
Carrying a torch lit from the eternal flame at King’s tomb, Long marched
past the gay protesters at 10:07 a.m., briefly glancing their way and offering
a closed-lip smile.
“The worst behavior we had from the marchers was self-righteousness,
but they were pretty well behaved,” said Bynes, who works for AID Atlanta.
“Many of them mirrored Bishop Long’s smug attitude, sort of ignoring
the fact that we were there.
“It’s painful to know they could ignore the pain of LGBT people
and what they did to us,” added Bynes, who shouted “Shame on you,”
as Long marched past.
Long — flanked by his wife, Vanessa, and march co-organizer Rev. Bernice
King, the ...
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