I’ve been watching the media and right wing coverage of last week's protests against Prop 8, and surprising no one in particular, they’re getting the story wrong. Word is that the vast majority of the literally hundreds of protests since November 4th have been peaceful. But of course, a couple altercations has given the opposition enough fuel to paint us as horrible people.
Take, for example, the story of Phyllis Burgess. This elderly woman just happened to be near a candlelight vigil in Palm Springs with a large styrofoam cross on November 7th. The ravenous Homosexuals, overtaken by their perverted hormones and devil worship, swarmed her, ripping the styrofoam cross from her grasp without any provocation, and as she knelt on the ground, she raised her hand to the sky, not unlike the Virgin Mary herself, crying, “Why, Lord Jesus? That styrofoam cross was blessed by the Pope himself! WHY?!?”
Okay, I’m laying it on a little thick, but only a smidgen more than both media outlets like Fox News and local TV station KPSP and anti-gay pseudo-news sites like WorldNetDaily, which refers to her as “an elderly bespectacled woman”, and OneNewsNow, which claims that she was “roughed up”.
But I take issue with two parts of the story that’s being spread around. First, there’s the matter of provocation. Let’s face it, Phyllis was there to get a reaction, and she got one. And if you watch the video below, which includes the rarely seen lead up to the confrontation, you’ll see that some of the other reported bits of the story are suspect, and others (like her companion trying to pull signs out of people’s hands) haven’t been reported at all.
http://blog.mattalgren.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/phyllis-burgess.flv
I’m not suggesting that violence toward the opposition is something we should be involved in. Neither are the VAST majority of gay activists, including the people at this rally in Palm Springs. But I do understand anger boiling over when a person’s just been told that she’s less worthy of basic civil rights, when his rights are taken away. (It’s now being reported that Phyllis Burgess won’t be pressing charges.)
The other problem is the way this woman is being portrayed as a poor old lady. Note to right-wing nut jobs: She’s three years younger than your most recent candidate for President. Isn’t it a little soon to start pulling the age card?
January 5, 2009
One Comment
My “enraged” came from the crap reportage. David Ono of KABC7 referred to protesters as “homosexuals, disappointed by the Prop 8 outcome…” We aren’t disappointed, we’re pissed off that, in violation of the ideals of the Civil Rights era, we loose equality by popularity contest, and that most of the people who voted FOR the prop are people who live better lives today because the Federal Government said that the majority COULDN’T do that to a minority! This isn’t so much a case of them not reporting the news, it’s about them not knowing what the story is when they see it!
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