This iReport is part of an assignment:
Your thoughts on same-sex marriage
More from jef0730
Foiling Protestors one word at a time.
Okay this is really great. An article I read in the Panzee Press ( a great local area GLBT publication centered in the Harrisburg, PA area)(www.panzeepress.com to subscribe). It was written by Liz Bradbury in last months issue. "How We Foiled Repent America for Fun and Profit, and How You Can Too!" "At the Reading Pride Festival, the annoying and insulting anti-gay Repent America protesters were set up right near the PA Diversity Network booth. They shouted insults and spouted convoluted logic about our community, based in the strangest interpretations of the Bible I've ever heard-- and I've heard alot. When one guy, who seemed to lack the facility to yell actual words, took over, he loudly grunted, yes grunted, nonstop for 20 minutes. Silent Witness(great group), the wonderful group withthe giant rainbow umberellas that stands between the icky protesters and us was there in Reading doing their job. One of the most important things Silent Witness does, is block our own people from physically acting against the protesters.. This is very important, because what these hateful and kind of sad, protesters really want is for soe GLBT person to throw a punch, so they can sue. Unfortunately, the beautiful umbrellas don't stop the protesters with their own words. I came up with the "PA Diversity Network Magic Words Pledge Drive," We started the pledge drive when Repent America announced they were going to be at the Greater Lehigh Valley Pride in the Park festival, in Allentown, in a letter tothe editor in the Morning Call newspaper. They also insisted it was unconstitutional to block them with umbrellas since all they were doing was proaying. (That's praying?) Here's how the Magic Words Pledge Drive worked: We selected 10 magic words that the protesters love to say, and 3 secret words we wouldn't let the protesters know about. Then we challenged the GLBT community to pledge ten cents a word everytime the protesters said one of the words. People could cap their amounts at anything they wanted. Our volunteers- two per two hour shift- would ount the words and ring a bell each time a word was said. .....We ended up using one of those hotel counter bells that had a delightful ding, but wasn't too loud. I also came up with the slogan: Every time you hear a bell ring, our angel get more wings! Emails circulated around the community. The day before the festivl, pledges reached $4.30 per word; up to a capped total of $1615...at that point I began to worry that the protesters WOULDN"T show up! People capped at every amount from $5 to $250, and one very brave person pledged ten cents a word with no cap! By the end of the festival, the total amount wasw over $2000. We decided to equally share the money with groups tht gave us volunteers for the counting and bell ringing. We also agreed that Silent Witness should get a share, but Silent Witness graciously turned own the money and asked usto donate it to a GLBT youth program... The pledge drive volunteers counting the words and ringing the bell had to endure a lot of unpleasantness from the protesters. Believe me, I was three part of the time; it wasn't praying. The protesters personally insulted me and some of the volunteers - they knew my name and harassed me by making personal remarks aimed onl to hurt and annoy, but I kept hearing that bell ring and all their wors did was make me smile. Picture this-- A beautiful day, a protester shoutin, a bell ringing: "Repent (ding) your lifestyle (ding) that the Devil (ding) and Satan (ding) made you homosexuals (ding) sin (ding) against God (ding) and Jesus (ding)." --and me walking away waving and saying, "Thanks for the money, folks!" It would be great if they would just leave us alone, but if not, let's be sure that the protesters never show up again in ourcommunity without their words funding our efforts. If the protesters are coming to our town- run the pledge drive. It's easy. Contact me if you need some pointers. Above all, be sure that you share the money with other groups in a way that will strongly further the equal rights of the GLBT community. By the end of Pride in the Park, the protestes had siad the Magic Words 2632 times, which covered all the pledges. Here's the breakdown: Abomination: 79 times; Bible: 122; Devil: 14; Ex-Gay: 11; God: 772; Grunting (secret sound): 13: Homosexual: 200; Jesus: 743; Lifestyle: 35; Repent: 193: Satan: 29; Sin: 389: Sodom: 32. Here are some of the other bizarre things they(protestors) said: "You can't put God on a chain like you do that dog!" "it's not a lifestyle, it's a truthstyle!" "There's no ice cream in Hell!" "God's way or the highway!" "You can go muffin diving all you want, all you're going to get is throat cancer!" "Your not gay, your sad!" "Praise God I'm straight... WHEW! -- Do I get another WHEW on that!" "Jesus hung on the cross and gave you a free gift!" (I agree with this statement,- jef0730) Jef0730 idea's on this: I thought this was a great idea. Let's use protests to fund our causes. Remember to stay peaceful, respectful, and honest. I want to say that protestors are actually not witnessing at all doing more damage than good for God. Therefore I believe they aren't "of God" Satan can quote scripture to get his agenda done. If protesters want to actually "convert" people this isn't doing the job at all, which should be your sole purpose. If you guys like the idea and want help implamenting it. contact panzee press: 108F North Reading Rd #252, Ephrata, PA 17522 www.panzeepress.com
What do you think of this story?
Select one of the options below. Your feedback will help tell CNN producers what to do with this iReport. If you'd like, you can explain your choice in the comments below.
Be and editor! Choose an option below:
More from this assignment - Your thoughts on same-sex marriage
iReport welcomes a lively discussion, so comments on iReports are not pre-screened before they post. See the iReport community guidelines for details about content that is not welcome on iReport.
© 2011 Cable News Network. 
Comments