| http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGAMJK95WNC.html
Jun 12, 2001 What security issue did they mean? MAURICIO ROSAS President George W. Bush was in Tampa on June 4 for a public appearance at the New York Yankees' Legends Field. Some friends and I were excited about the opportunity to see ``Dubya.'' We had tickets to be directly in front of his podium and we had our letter-size signs ready to show when he came on stage. When I arrived at the stadium, the rest of the group had not arrived. So I walked across the pedestrian bridge to meet them. It was very hot and there was little shade, so I stood under a small palm tree and waited for my friends. I waited quietly on the opposite side of the stadium grounds near the entrance of the pedestrian bridge. While I waited, a Tampa police officer said I couldn't stand there holding my sign. I explained I was merely waiting for some friends. He said I was on private property, and it was illegal for me to wait there with those signs. At first I just stood there and ignored him. Again he confronted me. He said that I could not stand there and that I could not bring those posters into the stadium. I told him it was a public rally and he could not regulate my speech or my message. Irritated and angry, the officer left. Meanwhile, a young mother and child arrived and joined me under the shade. I gave her a ticket to see the president. As I moved among the groups, I distributed extra entry tickets. Finally, my friends arrived and we went onto the pedestrian bridge. As we moved swiftly through the pedestrian overpass, some guy in a blue suit started to run behind us, yelling, ``You can't take those posters in there!'' Yet when we walked through the metal detectors, our bags were searched, our signs were in plain view and we were allowed in without incident. When we entered the stadium, we could see around us that this was an orchestrated political event that was manipulated and controlled by the president and his staff. We could see Secret Service agents, Bush operatives and police handing out pro-Bush signs. In some instances they were replacing dissenting signs with pro-Bush signs. The president cannot use the police or Secret Service to suppress political ideas. Once we arrived at our spot in front of the podium, we saw other people holding up signs, so my friend, Suni, began showing her sign that read ``Investigate Florida Votergate.'' Then I took out my ``June is Gay Pride Month'' sign and began holding it high above my head for everyone to see. It was then that Bush operatives, Secret Service and police began demanding that we put away the signs. In particular, they wanted me to lose my gay-pride sign. The Secret Service, police and other Bush operatives tried to forcibly rip the sign out of my hands. They hollered, ``Lose the `gay' sign and you can stay.'' Some people hollered, ``This is not a gay rally!'' ``You don't belong here!'' yelled a group wearing Idlewild Baptist Church shirts. Some man even took a lunge at me. The police, Secret Service and the people around were demanding I take down my ``gay'' sign. They were also demanding that my friends put down their ``Boo'' and ``Investigate Florida Electiongate!'' signs. They were hired to hand out pro-Bush flyers. When I was asked to exchange my sign, I said, ``No!'' They demanded I drop the ``gay'' sign. I was asked if I would prefer to be arrested rather than to get rid of the sign. They kept trying to tear it away from me. I then fell to the ground. They said again, ``If you give up the sign, you can stay!'' I said, ``If you intend to take my sign, then you will have to carry me out.'' I asked, ``Why?'' They said the signs are a security issue! We told them our signs went through the official check-in point. I had a letter-size piece of paper that had on it ``June is Gay Pride Month'' in bold letters. What type of security issue does the word ``gay'' have? What harm did I pose to the president? I was holding up a sign that expressed my views. While we were in view of the podium, Bush's operatives called one another on their walkie-talkies to bring more pro-Bush signs to the podium area. These same operatives allowed the crowd around us to become unruly, offensive and violent. Simultaneously, several other officers and operatives were trying to rip the sign from my hands. His operatives used the occasion to demonstrate how they handle dissent. They arrested us, we were dragged out and the mob cheered. This was a rally for the intolerant. |
