'Love Won Out' Conference Met By A Thousand Protestors
Last Saturday, at the height of the protest, more than a thousand people demonstrated in front of a Baptist church in Boston to protest against the ‘Love Won Out’ conference.
Last Saturday, at the height of the protest, more than a thousand people demonstrated in front of a Baptist church in Boston to protest against the “Love Won Out” conference.
The conference, held on Oct. 29 at Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston, Mass., drew homosexual activists and supporters from 8 a.m. until evening when the event ended. Protestors were shouting obscenities, picketing, threatening and blocking the street reported Article 8 Alliance, a pro-family organization in Massachusetts present at the event.
“The anger, rage and hatred were indescribably,” said a conference attendee, according to a report by the Christian Civic League of Maine.
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“I was more than a little scared, and these were supposedly my people protesting,” confirmed Ethan Jacobs, a reporter for Bay Windows – New England’s largest gay and lesbian newspaper – that was attending the conference.
In addition, Article 8 Alliance reported the chants of protesters included: “What do you want? Bigots out. When do we want it? Now;" "1-2-3-4 open up the closet door. 5-6-7-8 don't assume your kids are straight;" "This hatred thing is getting old. This hatred thing has gotta go;" "Ex-gay, anti-gay" and "Not in Boston, not in America."
Jacobs wrote that the founder of a gay activist group was shouting, "Focus on the Family! Shut it down! James Dobson! Shut it down! Homophobia! Shut it down! Karl Rove! Shut it down!”
"Joe Dallas (Love Won Out speaker, former gay activist, former head of Exodus Intl) wrapped up the day with a statement about wanting the demonstrators to have their freedom of speech about their feelings and beliefs,” recalled a participant at Love Won Out conference to Article 8 Alliance.
“But he said one thing frightened him, and that was when they started yelling ‘Shut it Down!’ He did send out the alarm that our freedom of speech and religion are seriously at risk. He recounted stories of ministers shut down in other countries..."
Moreover, the homosexual supporters set up two coffins with the phrase, “Homophobia is deadly,” in front of the church the conference was held at.
There was a similar protest – though not as large or loud – on Sept. 8 at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church when over 600 members of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry (RCFM) gathered to protest the “Love Won Out” conference during its pre-event breakfast.
One of the main reasons for the large size of the protest was that anti-war marchers at Boston Commons joined the Love Won Out protest at 2 p.m; an arrangement made by the founder of the activist group QueerToday.com.
During an interview with The Christian Post on Sept. 9, Melissa Fryrear, Gender Issues Analyst for Focus on the Family, said in response to the protest: “We always welcome a sincere dialogue, a respectful dialogue related to homosexuality. We welcome the opportunity to cut through the sound bite and have an intelligent discussion. It takes two to do that. We’ve done that in other parts of the country, but often time, unfortunately the posture from the gay community is intimidation and militancy and that doesn’t afford for a respectful and sincere dialogue.”
Last Saturday’s conference marked the 36th presentation of the event that assembles speakers who share about ministering to friends and family members struggling with homosexuality. In particular, speakers share a common belief that a person can overcome homosexuality through Jesus Christ. The Boston Conference attracted about 800 attendees from 19 different states.
