Homosexuals planned
Christian harassment
'OutFest' organizers announced efforts
to block protesters now facing prison

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Posted: January 10, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Homosexual "OutFest" organizers in Philadelphia announced plans in advance of their October 2004 street festival to block Christians from access to the publicly sponsored event where 11 members of Repent America were arrested, five being charged with a series of misdemeanors and felonies that could put them in jail for 47 years.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the group was "preaching God's Word" to a crowd of people attending the Oct. 10, 2004, event and displaying banners with biblical messages.


After a confrontation with a group called the Pink Angels, described by protesters as "a militant mob of homosexuals," the 11 Christians, members of Repent America, were arrested and taken into custody.

Eight charges were filed: criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.

None of the Pink Angels were cited or arrested.

After a preliminary hearing in December, Judge William Austin Meehan ordered four of the adult Christians to stand trial on three felony and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, they could get a maximum of 47 years in prison. A fifth juvenile has been ordered to stand trial in the juvenile justice system facing the same eight counts.

But, according to an article in the Philadelphia Gay News days before the street festival, homosexual organizers were planning to block Christians from access to the event.

Chuck Volz, senior adviser to Philly Pride Presents, told the publication the Pink Angels security force would carry large signs alongside the Christians to surround them and block their access to OutFest participants.

"We'll have a pink wall around them," he said. "Hopefully, they will be so frustrated they won't come again. Talking to a piece of Styrofoam is not the same as talking to a crowd of people."

Volz also made clear that "diversity" was not the goal of the street festival.

"It's our event, and we're not going to permit vendors or community groups that conflict with the theme of the event," he said. He said welcoming Christians to the street festival would be analogous to a black event welcoming white supremacists.

Police said they would have cordoned off the permitted area for OutFest, preventing protesters from attending, had event organizers obtained an injunction from a judge. But OutFest organizers did not get an injunction.

Dan Anders, an attorney for Philly Pride Presents, said: "Our position is that they are not welcome to attend, they haven't been invited to attend, and we would rather that they protest the event from outside the permitted area."

Volz admitted in the report that OutFest organizers didn't have a leg to stand on in keeping out people exercising their First Amendment rights in a public venue.

"Given the parameters of the First Amendment, there's no way to keep them out," he said. "I think the gay community should understand that the gay-rights movement has succeeded because people are permitted free speech under the First Amendment. We can't be in a position of denying people the right to compete with us in the marketplace of ideas."

"This is one of the most remarkable and unlawful actions by police that I have ever witnessed," said Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America. "Their blatant disregard of the law by allowing hecklers to impede our way, block our message and then arrest us, is inexcusable, especially by police officers who are specially trained to protect civil rights.

"Christians are now being labeled as 'haters' and any speech that homosexuals perceive to be intimidating, such as our Christian witness at OutFest, makes them a prime target for 'hate crimes legislation.'"

Continued Marcavage: "We are clearly 'not guilty' of these crimes, and with the help of our video footage, we shall be vindicated of these trumped-up charges."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42287

_________________
Dennis Green

'Philadelphia 5' arrests like 'Christian Rodney King'
Documentary producer happened to be filming protesters day of 'gay' event

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Posted: January 12, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Ron Strom
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

A documentary filmmaker who happened to be interviewing the leader of 11 Christian protesters on the day they were arrested at an outdoor homosexual event in Philadelphia says the extent of the charges against five of the people – which could lead to 47 years in prison – amounted to a "Christian Rodney King" scenario.

As WorldNetDaily reported, on Oct. 10, the group was "preaching God's Word" to a crowd of people attending the Philadelphia event and displaying banners with biblical messages.


After a confrontation with a group called the Pink Angels, described by protesters as "a militant mob of homosexuals," the Christians were arrested and spent a night in jail.

Eight charges were filed: criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.

None of the Pink Angels was cited or arrested.

After a preliminary hearing in December, Judge William Austin Meehan ordered four of the Christians to stand trial on three felony and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, they could get a maximum of 47 years in prison. One female teenage protester faces charges in the juvenile justice system.

Right place at the right time

Mike Shaw and his partner, Geoff Callan, operate Enough Said Productions in San Francisco. Shaw says he had no prior connection to the protest group from Repent America, but simply wanted to interview its leader, Michael Marcavage, for a documentary he was working on about same-sex marriage protests in California.

"Repent America came to San Francisco protesting what was going on with same-sex marriage," Shaw told WND. He says he contacted Marcavage to see if he might interview him and find out more about the organization. "We just wanted to have an understanding about who these people were."

The weekend Shaw and Callan flew to Philadelphia happened to be the same weekend Repent America had planned to protest the homosexual "OutFest" event.

"So here we are to film [Marcavage] so he can have his voice over his actions in San Francisco on our documentary," Shaw explained. "We didn't want our piece to be one-sided, so we figured they'd be a good fit in our documentary."

Shaw said he began filming Marcavage in his truck while the activist was driving to Outfest in Philadelphia. Marcavage explained to the filmmaker what Repent America does in calling people to turn from their sinful lifestyles, as they did in the San Francisco protest.

"He had a wireless microphone on him," he said. "We got out of the car, and the rest of what happened is on the videotape.

"Since Michael had a wireless on him, I just sat on the side and zoomed in, capturing the conversation."

Shaw's videotape of the confrontation, which is available online, was used by the protesters' lawyers during the preliminary hearing. There likely would not have been a taped record of the Christians' arrest had Shaw not have been in Philadelphia to interview Marcavage.

"The footage is telling the truth," he explained. "It's very unbiased because we were not there for Repent America in the sense that we were trying to help them."

Nearly arrested

Despite Shaw's presence at the protest as an objective filmmaker, he says police tried to arrest him.

"They tried to arrest me and say I was an accomplice," he said. "I held up my ID and said, 'We're from San Francisco.'

"We come from the gayest city in America," Shaw said. "Why would we go there to go after these people at their OutFest?"

Shaw says he almost didn't make it out without being arrested.

"I had one foot in the paddy wagon," he said. "They were making me take my camera and headphones off" before finally being given a reprieve.

The filmmaker said he was surprised the protesters were charged with so many criminal counts.

"I've seen a lot of people from where we're from do a lot worse things and get in a lot less trouble," he said. "Everyone thought they'd just get a slap on the wrist."

He also mentioned how quickly the protesters were arrested, saying it was only 35 minutes from the time they left their cars until they were on the way to jail.

"They didn't really even get set up," he said. "The other side [the Pink Angels] was so ready for them. … They didn't even get a whole song finished" before the conflict began. Besides quoting the Bible, Repent America protesters sing Christian songs at protests.

Shaw says he had to pick up the protesters' signs after they were hauled away and try to get them back to them.

After the protesters were released from jail the next morning, Shaw met up with Marcavage and filmed him as he found out about how many felony charges he was facing.

"He was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is huge,'" Shaw said.

That's when the filmmaker decided to offer the tape as evidence in court. He also decided to make a separate documentary about the arrests of the protesters.

"We're fixing the audio levels and putting out a documentary," he said.

Shaw says he sees the arrest as a "Christian Rodney King."

"They didn't get hit physically," he said, "they got hit by the extent of the charges against them. … When I saw the charges and the 47 years I was like, 'Wow.'"

Shaw said he thought the whole situation odd because the homosexuals were not the minority, as they are used to.

"They were the majority" he told WND. "I think there was some hostility and people venting because they had the numbers. … They didn't want anyone ruining their day."

Shaw says he was happy to offer the video to the arrestees.

"The footage speaks for itself," he emphasized. "You make the call. We kept it rolling."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42337[url=http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42337]WorldNet Daily[/url]

_________________
Dennis Green

I just got word that the trial date has been set for Lauren Murch, the 17 year old girl who was arrested with us. It is set for Feb.18.

http://www.lifeandlibertyministries.com[url=http://www.lifeandlibertyministries.com]Life and Liberty Ministries[/url]

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Dennis Green

Hi Denny,

Think something got lost in that link.

Here is the main site though;

[url=http://www.lifeandlibertyministries.com/]http://www.lifeandlibertyministries.com/[/url]

_________________
Mike Balog

Top Stories
Jail Marcavage? ACLU-gotta be kidding
Gil Spencer, Times Columnist01/14/2005


In an elevator on his way down from Courtroom 504 in the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Wednesday, a reporter is asking Michael Marcavage about his religious convictions.
The elevator is stuffed with people, and Marcavage, 25, a good-natured but determined Christian soldier, doesn’t hesitate to discuss the religious and cultural "war" in which he’s engaged. His mission is to save souls. The Bible tells him to be a "light in the darkness .. and that a "river of fire" awaits those sinners who don’t repent ..yadda, yadda, yadda.


We finally reach the first floor. If anything ought to be illegal, I tell Marcavage, it’s preaching in a crowded elevator.

Advertisement


Marcavage smiles.

For a man who faces a possible 47 years in prison, Marcavage is a pretty happy guy. Perhaps because the likelihood of him doing any jail time at all seems exceedingly small. The charges brought against him by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office (felony rioting, possession of an instrument of crime, conspiracy and ethnic intimidation) are so obviously trumped up that it will take a real miscarriage of justice to incarcerate him.

The charges stem from Marcavage showing up at a gay pride event called "Outfest" and preaching that homosexual conduct is a sin. He was joined by 10 other members of his group, Repent America, there last October.

The group’s message was not well-received by the event organizers, who sought to surround the group and drown out their leader’s biblical recitations.

City police, who were supposed to be there to make sure peace was maintained and everyone’s civil rights were upheld, instead moved against the protesters. Marcavage and the others were arrested. As they were taken away, the Outfesters, of course, cheered.

"We have a right to have a party," said Franny Price, an organizer of the event.

Yes they do. But they don’t have the "right" to be protected from the religious views of any citizen who cares to share them. Not if "Outfest" is going have its "party" in a public place, on a public street -- funded, by the way, with public dollars.

If Philadelphia’s gay community wanted to throw a party to celebrate gayness with no risk of party poopers, they should have rented a hall, with their own money, and taken it inside. There, they would be free to exclude anybody whose opinions and beliefs offended them.

But if you want to put on a public demonstration to celebrate something that a large number of people in this country still seem to think of as sinful, well, you take your chances that somebody is going to show up and tell you where they think you’ve gone wrong.

It would be nice to know where the American Civil Liberties Union comes down in all of this. I called the Philadelphia office yesterday but didn’t hear back.

But on its national Web page, the ACLU states:

"It is probably no accident that freedom of speech is the first freedom mentioned in the First Amendment ..

Uh, no it’s not. The first freedom mentioned in the First Amendment is freedom of religion. That the ACLU has now seen fit to edit the Bill of Rights to exclude it says a lot about that once-august organization.

The ACLU once had the guts to stand up for the right of Nazis to march in America. Today, in this case, the ACLU is AWOL. Doesn’t a Christian in this country have the same civil rights as a Nazi?

Even if you think Marcavage is a nut, he’s a clever nut. His case not only shows the fearful intolerance of some in the gay community, but their influence in Philadelphia to silence and even have arrested their perceived enemies.

People who truly appreciate the First Amendment understand that it can’t be selectively applied or ignored by government officials. There have to be a good number of gay men and women who disagree with serious charges levied against Marcavage and the others; gays who understand that if a religious zealot’s rights can be violated with impunity by the police and D.A.’s office, so can theirs.

They should speak up.

Wednesday afternoon, watching Marcavage and fellow defendant Mark Diener, Bibles in hand, being interviewed by the media in front of the courthouse, a well-dressed passerby offered his opinion on the matter.

"It scares me how close those guys are to the Taliban," he said.

We amicably agreed to disagree.

It was a foggy day in the city. So foggy you couldn’t see Billy Penn’s feet.

A different sort of fog seems to be clouding the minds of some would-be liberal lawyers when it comes to this prosecution.

It’ll be nice when it finally lifts.

[url=http://www.delcotimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13749114&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18171&rfi=8]Delaware County Times[/url]

_________________
Dennis Green

Judge eases curbs on protesters

Bail condition barring the "Philadelphia Four" from gay events violated rights to free speech, ruling says.

By Larry Eichel

Inquirer Staff Writer


In a case that has received national attention, a Philadelphia judge yesterday revoked a bail condition that had kept four antigay activists away from organized gay events, calling the restriction an unreasonable restraint on free speech.

She also indicated she might be inclined to dismiss the entire case.

The decision by Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe came in the case of the so-called Philadelphia Four. They are facing a variety of charges, including felonies, in connection with their behavior at the gay and lesbian community's Outfest celebration last fall.

"We cannot restrict people's right to speak or to be near those who might not wish to hear them into the future," Dembe said. The limit had been put in place last month by Municipal Court Judge William A. Meehan against the demonstrators, who are affiliated with a local group called Repent America and who say their opposition to homosexuality is Bible-based.

After viewing a 22-minute videotape of the events leading to the defendants' arrest, Dembe said: "It all amounted to annoyance on both sides, but it did not amount to criminal behavior that I can see."

Cathie Abookire, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, said that the prosecution would proceed with the case. A pretrial hearing is scheduled next month, at which Dembe is to hear arguments on dismissing the charges.

The activists, led by Michael Marcavage of Lansdowne, say they are being prosecuted for preaching the Gospel, a claim that has won them considerable support among conservative Christian groups around the country.

During the hearing yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich said that the criminal charges were based not on what the defendants said at Outfest but on their conduct.

"Mr. Marcavage's conduct is to try to incite a crowd to cause a public disturbance... whether it's from the Bible or somewhere else," Ehrlich said.

Marcavage faces felony charges of criminal conspiracy, incitement to riot, and violating the state's law against hate crimes, plus five misdemeanors.

Felony charges (but not the misdemeanors) have been dismissed against the other three, though they remain in place against a 17-year-old girl who demonstrated.

The activists were arrested after refusing a police order to move to an area farther from the center of the Outfest celebration, which covered eight blocks of Center City.

Police said they were concerned about possible violence; the activists were being followed by counterprotesters using pink insulation boards and whistles to prevent the antigay words and signs from being being seen or heard.

During the hearing, the defendants' attorney, C. Scott Shields, said the bail condition preventing his clients from getting with 100 feet of any gay event had effectively "muzzled" them, "and that's unconstitutional as a prior restraint."

In addition, Shields argued that Marcavage and the other defendants were within their rights to go to Outfest with their bullhorn because the festival was a public event held on public streets. The legal situation would have been different, he said, had the event taken place in a private venue.

Ehrlich sought to defend the restriction by citing a federal case decided last summer by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In Frye v. Kansas City, Mo., that court ruled that local police, for reasons of public safety, could restrict the whereabouts of antiabortion demonstrators on public streets.

Paraphrasing the majority opinion in that case and from several rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, Ehrlich said: "No one has the right to say whatever they want wherever they want."

Marcavage, 25, called the ruling a blessing. The other adult defendants are James Cruise, 53, of Richmond, Va.; Mark Diener, 33, of Ephrata; and Dennis Green, 38, of Petersburg, Va.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/10705185.htm[url=http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/10705185.htm]http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/10705185.htm[/url]

_________________
Dennis Green

Judge rules against Christians who preached to homosexuals
February 04, 2005

'Philly 5' lose round in federal court, prosecutors get away with calling defendants' words 'hateful'

In another blow to the "Philly 5" – the Philadelphia Christians facing possible 47 year jail terms for evangelizing at a homosexual event – a federal judge has refused a request to stop the local prosecution of the group.

Judge Petrese B. Tucker, for the second time, has refused to sanction the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office for what the Christians' attorneys say are "retaliatory criminal proceedings."

According to the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, which is representing the Christians on the federal level, Tucker denied the request for relief last week, saying the Philly 5 had "insufficient evidence ... regarding why any of the defendants would want to stifle their First Amendment rights."

The group's attorneys had presented as evidence their clients' First Amendment rights were violated the fact that Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich told an earlier court proceeding the Christians' religious speech was "hateful, disgusting, despicable words," and "fighting words."

As WorldNetDaily reported, on Oct. 10, a group of 11 Christians was "preaching God's Word" to a crowd of people attending the Philadelphia "OutFest" event and displaying banners with biblical messages.

After a confrontation with a group called the Pink Angels, described by protesters as "a militant mob of homosexuals," the Christians were arrested and spent a night in jail.

Eight charges were filed: criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.

None of the Pink Angels was cited or arrested.

After a preliminary hearing in December, Judge William Austin Meehan ordered four of the Christians to stand trial on three felony and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, they could each get a maximum of 47 years in prison. One female teenage protester faces charges in the juvenile justice system.

Brian Fahling is senior trial attorney for the law center.

Said Fahling in a statement: "The law requires us to show bad faith or retaliation by the D.A.'s office; we established that beyond argument with a videotape of the entire incident that shows our clients peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights, then being arrested and charged with crimes that carry a potential for 47 years imprisonment, and a district attorney's office that retaliated against them because it hates their speech.

"It is difficult to conceive of more compelling evidence of bad faith and retaliation than what we have presented to the court in this case."

Fahling colleague Michael DePrimo added: "There has never been a stronger case for federal court intervention based upon allegations of bad faith and retaliation than [the Philly 5] presented to Judge Tucker. … Prior to taking the bench, Judge Tucker was an assistant district attorney for Philadelphia for eight years; she is undoubtedly aware that peaceful expression of First Amendment rights is not criminal."

The next hearing date scheduled for the Christians is Feb. 17, when the court will consider their motion to dismiss the case. Seventeen-year-old Lauren Murch's trial date is Feb. 18.

[url=http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42705]WorldNet Daily[/url]

_________________
Dennis Green

Bill Would Strip 'Sexual Orientation' from PA's Hate Crimes Law
February 10, 2005

By Ed Thomas

(AgapePress) - Legislators in Pennsylvania have introduced a bill designed to remove language from a state "hate crimes" law that was used against Christian protestors in the "Outfest" case in Philadelphia. The arrests of the Christians allowed political opponents of the hate crimes law to say their warnings were ignored.

House Bill 1493 became Act 143 of the Pennsylvania Hate Crimes Law in November 2002 and added "sexual orientation" protection to the law. Legislators and other opponents -- like Diane Gramley of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania -- warned then that the law could be used against the First Amendment rights of Christians, a charge sponsors adamantly denied was the intent. She even recalls one of the measure's supporters accusing opponents of having "an active imagination," and saying the bill was about "thugs, hooligans, murderers, and blood in the street," not about infringing on the rights of Christians.

That was until the pro-homosexual Outfest event in October 2004, when the "ethnic intimidation" charge against the arrested Christians was drawn from Act 143. Gramley says opponents of the measure now have the proof they need -- and 17 of them have co-sponsored House Bill 204.

"[This bill] removes the wording that was added back in November 2002 [when] 'actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity' [were added]," she explains.

State Representative Tom Yewcic was to introduce the new bill today (February 7) at a capital news conference. Gramley calls the lawmakers' move a "bold step in restoring the First Amendment rights of Pennsylvania's Christians."

Five of the Christians arrested at the Outfest event are stilling facing 47 years in prison and fines up to $90,000 each. Those who were arrested committed no violence against homosexuals at the gathering. However, a city prosecutor declared that the bullhorn used by one of the Christians was an "instrument of crime."

[url=http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/72005b.asp]Agape Press[/url]

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Dennis Green

Brethren
I have a question. Why is it that we seem to be focusing more on the sin of gay and lesbianism wile neglecting other things like, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying etc which are sin also in God's eyes? are we so adamant against these our brethren (for they are our brethren also) because they are committing a sin that we are not so we feel we are better? We should also look as citically if not more critically on our own lives so that we may also be cleansed of our sins should we not?

any thoughts?

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Farai Bamu

This thread is focusing on the homosexual issue because the arrests are tied to it.

The ministry I am affiliated with reaches out to all sinners. We do evangelize homosexuals but we also reach out at abortion clinics, high schools, colleges, street corners etc. When one ministers to the general public, he will address all of the sins you mentioned.

Sins like, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying etc. are addressed all of the time from the pulpit. The desparate need nowadays is to take the Gospel out of the church and into the street where the lost reside.

The Gospel does not call a practicing sodomite, "our brethren", and neither should we. When one is born again, he becomes a new creature and the old will pass away. To live in the ongoing sin of homosexuality is to prove that you are not a follower of Messiah. The gate is strait and the way is narrow.

The sin of homosexuality is different in one way than the other sins you mentioned. It is celebrated in the street. It is pushed in our schools. How often do you hear of festivals held for theives or liers? The homosexual movment is powerful and it is making headway in our nation. It will take a bold Church, unashamed of the Gospel to stop its advance and win its adherents to Christ.

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Dennis Green