Memoir on a protest

Opposing views

Emotions filled the air. It seemed as if she were in a bad nightmare that she couldn't awake from. All she could do was stand and stare in disgust and discomfort. The indignant people walked up and down the side walk, waving messages of hate. Everything she heard and saw felt so unreal. She could hear children, as young as 5 years old, hissing angry words and flailing signs for everyone to see. She knew that they didn't understand what was going on, she knew they didn't understand what they were saying or what was being said.

Cars slowly passed looking at their signs, then looking at hers. You could see the confusion in their faces. Her side defended themselves by the negative comments that were being thrown at them. She held up a sign that said, "Love is tender and knows no gender" and her best friend held the sign, "Aids does not choose."

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, a group again...

Michael Phelps

PhelpSS

And just 15 feet across from where they were standing were the signs that they were holding up. This group, the "Phelps" group, was a family of people who traveled across the states protesting against homosexuals and the people whom they say "enable" them. It was their negative outlook on homosexuals was what made her furious.

"God hates America the land of gays and fags" they sang with angry voices. But that wasn't even the peak of her disappointment. Out of all the signs and words, the one that made her stomach cringe the most was a sign that read "Mathew Shepard is in hell." She couldn't grasp why or how anyone capable of thought would even imagine something as sick and twisted as that sign. She couldn't believe that someone who had been brutally beaten and murdered for something...