Iowa City Plans Anti-hate Counter-presence for Tomorrow



HARRT,
Johnson County's Hate Acts Rapid Response Team, together with other
concerned organizations, is coordinating a counter-presence to the Fred
Phelps anti-gay protest scheduled for tomorrow, May 29th, from 6:45 pm
to 7:30 pm at the City High graduation ceremony at Carver Hawkeye
Arena, Iowa City.



Our counter-presence is planned for 6:30pm to 7:45pm at the Arena on Saturday, May 29th.



We will
be on the corner of Hawkins Drive and Newton Drive – east of the arena
and west of parking lot.  The Phelps group is protesting the award
of a Mathew Sheppard Scholarship to Ilse Bendorf, a student at City
High. (The graduation ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 to 9:30 pm).



You may
have read that Phelps was planning to protest at the award ceremony at
City High and at the graduation at Carver Hawkeye.  However, they
have now decided to protest only at the graduation at Carver Hawkeye
because they have “too many places to be.”



HARRT's
policy is to respect the wishes of the targets of hate whenever
possible.  Ilse and her family prefer a counter-presence that is
positive in nature and that recognizes that first and foremost this day
is about the graduating class at City High. They prefer signs that say
things like Iowa City Loves All Of Its Graduates, Congratulations Class
of 2004, We Celebrate Diversity, etc.  They do not want signs with Ilse's name on them.



The best way to protest Phelps' group is with SILENCE.
With that in mind, we plan to have our backs to them, shunning them and
what they stand for.  We also encourage everyone to wear red and
white, the school colors of City High. This hate group thrives on
confrontation. Touch them and you almost certainly will be sued. We do
not want to provide them with financial support or publicity that makes
us look bad. Other ideas are red & white balloons, umbrellas, etc.



I
encourage you to attend the counter-presence and give a clear message
to the Phelps hate-mongers and similar groups that we will not sit back
and tolerate their hate messages. In the meantime, please write to area
newspapers to give voice to our community, which overwhelmingly values
and affirms diversity.



Thank you,

Faith Wilmot, Co-Chair

HARRT