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Reprinted from The Orlando Sentinel, May 29, 1998.
Does This Protest Make Any Sense?
By Greg Dawson
of The Sentinel Staff
As you probably know, the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue plans to protest at Disney's Magic Kingdom next week
during the annual Gay Days celebration.
Isn't there something wrong with this picture?
To review: An organization passionately opposed to abortion targets 100,000 people who
don't procreate. Hello!
If there is any group in America that does not have a dog in the abortion fight, it is the
gay community whose lifestyle rarely includes making babies.
On the face of it, the presence of Operation Rescue protesters at Disney is as moot and
utterly irrelevant as:
- Anti-fur protesters at a nudist colony.
- Anti-war protesters on the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
- Anti-porn protesters at the offices of Modern Maturity magazine.
- Anti-gun protesters at an archery competition.
- Anti-electric chair protesters at a rope factory.
- Anti-tobacco protesters outside the headquarters of the American Lung Association.
- Anti-gambling protesters at a monastery.
- Anti-hunting protesters outside the American Council of the Blind.
- Anti-nuclear power plant protesters at a convention of Amish.
- Anti-whaling protesters at the Chicago stockyards.
- Anti-affirmative action protesters at the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan.
And so on ...
True, Operation Rescue has broadened its agenda in recent years to embrace (sorry,
include) "family values" issues such as pornography and homosexuality.
From the viewpoint of Operation Rescue, I can see how pornography could lead to
heterosexual promiscuity, which could produce unwanted pregnancies, which could lead to
abortions. But I don't see the connection between homosexuality and abortion. Or stamp
collecting and abortion.
It reminds me of a scene in the movie Ships of Fools, set just before World War II, when
an Aryan woman is telling a Jewish character played by Jose Ferrer that the Jews are to
blame for all of Germany's problems.
"I think it's the bicyclists' fault," he declares.
"Why the bicyclists?" she asks, puzzled.
"Why the Jews?" he says.
So I would ask Operation Rescue: Why the gays? How are they responsible for the many
dysfunctions rippling through straight America at the turn of the millennium?
The Operation Rescue leaders may well have answers for that when they get to town. Based
on their announced plans, they are very smart folks indeed.
Their plan is to buy tickets for the Magic Kingdom on June 6 and, once inside, hand out
religious fliers and minister one-on-one to gays.
Now, if Operation Rescue missionaries are able to tell which Disney guests are straight
and which are gay, they are smarter than I am. While some gays -- and straights -- wear
their sexual orientation on their sleeves, you can't be sure about the rest. The potential
for embarrassment is high.
"Oh, you're not gay? Please excuse me. I saw the red short shorts and muscle shirt
and just assumed ..."
I assume Operation Rescue also plans to minister to Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and other Disney
cast members. After all, who disputes that gays are a disproportionate percentage of the
entertainment industry?
But determining the sexual orientation of the heavily costumed characters could prove
trickier than sexing gerbils. And I don't think it's something that people from Ohio would
want their children to see.
In short, the Operation Rescue protest at Disney sounds like more trouble than it's worth.
I think the group would get more bang for its buck by protesting someplace where its
anti-abortion message would be more, uh, relevant.
There's no need for the Operation Rescue folks to change their travel plans -- there are
plenty of singles bars in Orlando.
Greg Dawson welcomes your comments. Telephone: (407) 420-5499. E-mail: gdawson@orlandosentinel.com; Please include
your name and phone number in messages.
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