Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 18:10:20 -0600 From: CENDO RICHARD [Editor's correction: the previous posting was incorrectly titled "Days 7&8 of Mel White Fast (part 1 of 3)" In fact, there was no day 8 and the posting should have been titled Days 6&7. -- Rick] [Editor's note: reproduction in any form of any or all of these accounts is both permitted and encouraged!!] [continuation from "Days 7&8 of Mel White fast (part 1 of 3)"] Micael Busse's life-partner, Ted Swink, sat in his wheelchair near the Pro-Family rally platform. Once a professional singer, now thin, pale and weak from his courageous battle with AIDS, Ted volunteered to sing, "The Rose." Ted's mom and dad, B.J. and Jim, stood nearby to encourage and support their son. As Ted struggled up from his wheelchair, walked to the mike, and sang beautifully, there were smiles, tears and hugs all around. When the rally ended, each person in the crowd placed a carnation into the shape of a triangle of pink flowers that would be given to Mr. Dobson and his staff. Later, with his life-partner, Gary Nixon, at his side, Mel White met with reporters to explain the purpose of his Pro-Family rally. "James Dobson, and his allies on the radical right, have decided that the only real families in America are those with a mother, a father, and 2.5 children. But he is wrong. Today, we celebrate every family configuration where people live together in love and commitment: traditional families with a mom and dad in place, single parents struggling to bring nurture to their children, lesbian and gay couples with or without children to raise, and extended families who have reached out to care for others who are lonely and afriad. Looking at the crowd of lesbians and gays, many of them with children, White added, "Whatever Mr. Dobson says, we are family, too. His job is not caricature and condemn our families but to use at least a small percentage of his $97 million budget to bring hope and healing to our families too," On Saturday night, several hundred people gathered to view the prize-winning film "One Nation Under God," a recent Public Broadcasting special documenting the failures of the "ex-gay" movement and illustrating the primitive and ineffectual methods used by those who "cure" homosexual orientation. Micheal Busse, who is featured in the film, fielded questions with Dr. White, a film's sponsor, before Jose Zuniga joined them as special guests of a community reception in their honor. Kevin Tebedo, one of the primary instigators of the anti-gay Amendment 2 initiative in Colorado (now declared unconstitutional) and the executive director of Colorado For Family Values, had called for his followers to protest the screening. At his earlier confrontation with Dr. White, Tebedo bragged without blinking that God has "told him" to launch this crusade against gay and lesbian Americans. On his way from the fast site, Tebedo asked this question of Samuel Behrens, the lawyer from Chistian Gays and Lesbians for Justice: "Where are you going to go," he threatened, "when we win?" Tebedo showed up at the screening alone, figeted his way through half of the film, and then crept away in the darkness. On Sunday morning, the seventh day of the Fast For Understanding, Colorado Springs's only daily paper, the Gazette Telegraph, included a full-page reproduction of Dr. Dobson's letter attacking Dr. White's integrity and attempting to refute Dr. White's charge that Dobson's anti-gay rhetoric "leads to suffering and death." As White joined thousands of gays and lesbians gathering for the Pride Fest in Acacia Park, reporters asked him to respond. "Nobody would spend all that money to take out a full-page ad against us if we hadn't hit a sensitive nerve," White replied. "Actually, his full-ad letter is so full of misleading and inflammatory rhetoric against lesbian and gay people that it proves my point. I just wish we had one percent of his $97 million dollar, tax-free budget to answer him with our side of the story." At 1 PM, hundreds of marchers, musical groups, at least a dozen floats and performers followed Joe Zuniga, the 1994 Grand Marshall, in Colorado Springs's annual Pride Parade. Just behind Mr. Zuniga's flower-decked convertible, Mel White and Gary Nixon walked in front of the RV that had been thier home for the seven-day fast. Two tall Native Americans representing the American Indian Movement marched alongside as security for the parade's special guests. The Ground Zero RV had been transformed into a "Wall of Shame," covered with specific examples of the anti-gay rhetoric of Dobson, his staff, and other leaders of the radical right. [end part 2 of 3]