the place for glbt

September 24^th was a typical Sunday. Like most teenagers, I was bored but refused to do anything productive, then my friend, Haley Johnson, called me up. Haley had been talking about getting a rally ready for whenever those anti-gay people of El Dorado County would pop up again. They always manage to put up their hateful signs, hand out their mini Bibles, and stir up as much attention as possible .

For the most part, they are an embarrassment to our community. Their message is so loud that some get the impression that our entire town is like them. I have encountered them at the county fairs and school plays. So I got the call and Haley was all excited, she told me to come downtown because the anti-gay people were there and she was ready to protest. There were only two rational people, Haley and her friend Alex, across the street from the anti-gays when I arrived so we grabbed cardboard out of trash cans and wrote signs. I phoned my friend, Katrina, and invited her and her family. Soon enough we had like 10 or 15 people.

Our local coffee shop got in with their signs of sarcasm like, “don’t eat food” and “SEX is awesome,” while the miserable anti-gay people just stood with their bad hair, impressionable kids, and awful devil costumes (this guy was wearing a devil costume with a sign that says "gay is ok." I was so confused, and they thought they were just so witty, but nobody got it, just like some didn't get the “grow pot” signs).

We stayed on the corner, receiving a few middle fingers along the way, a few honks, a few glares; someone even recorded us on their camera. Then things got a little crazy when the reporters came and we crossed the street and started talking with the anti-gays. Our conversation went from what Haley, Alex, and I originally had been supporting (gay rights) to war and abortion. Haley, Alex, Katrina, her sister and mom, and I all left the scene to go to Marc Adams' speech at the Federated Church where we were welcomed so warmly. We listened to the speech, and I left with the sense that I was actually fighting for something important.

It was so nice to finally stand up to those people and have support. As I have mentioned, I’ve heard them preach to us, and many teens had argued with them. However, this was different, we finally got the attention of adults and my peers, we made it into the local news paper, and when I went back to school on Monday, Haley and I got so much praise. We weren’t there to make the paper, or fight about war, at least I wasn’t. I was there to turn all that negative energy they have constantly sent out, and put it to a worthy cause- one that elevates people, not put them down-, a cause that I believe some self-righteous Christians, in fact all people, should aim for.