Provincetown shrugs off Oct. 17 anti-gay protest

By DOUG FRASER
STAFF WRITER

PROVINCETOWN - Josie Politano of East Falmouth was supposed to go shopping yesterday. But after a visit to the grave of her son Johnny, a gay man dead 11 years because of AIDS, she returned home overcome by grief.

When she heard that members of an anti-gay Kansas Baptist church were coming to Provincetown Oct. 17 to protest the town's anti-bias school project, she didn't mince words.

"I'm going to take one of those signs and stuff it up his nose," Politano said.

But there seemed to be little else in the way of any organized reaction to the Rev. Fred Phelps's announcement yesterday that 20 to 30 members of his Westboro Baptist Church congregation would be coming to Provincetown.

A Provincetown schools representative said no specific plans had been made, but they were working with police and town officials to ensure students' safety.

Human rights activist John Perry Ryan said the town's chapter of Act Up, a gay rights organization, had no plans to pay any attention to Phelps.

"We are too busy working to improve health care to be distracted by this nonsense," Ryan said.

Provincetown environmental activist Peter Souza said that tactic might work best. He said he had similar experience courting media exposure to gain attention for his causes.

"Completely ignoring them, as though they're invisible, will take their effectiveness away," said Souza. "I know. It's worked on me."

Phelps said he plans on picketing and singing hymns in a "conspicuous" place deemed safe by local police.

He accused the school system of trying to piggyback "homosexual propaganda" onto what he termed "legitimate" programs to help minorities.

Phelps said he plans to hold a peaceful demonstration, but that others have turned violent when people have objected to the message on his signs.

"If you tell people God hates fags in bright multicolored signs, they're going to get mad," he said. "We've come upon days when people say 'so what' to conventional preaching. My position is that true gospel preaching strikes an ax that provokes responses."

Phelps said the congregation is mostly middle class and numbers 200. They pay travel expenses out of their own pockets.

"I feel sorry for them," said Politano. "They say they are followers of Jesus, but they're not. This is their belief, but don't stick it on everybody else. That's wrong."

The school's anti-bias project is intended to address bias in race, religion and gender. At this point, there have only been discussions among teachers, administrators and community members; a study circle on combating racism; and a workshop for adults on what anti-biased education means.

Further workshops for teachers are being planned.

In a letter to parents, William Rokicki, principal of Veterans Memorial Elementary School in Provincetown, said any changes in what children will be doing at school will have "the full involvement of parents."