Hundreds go to
Colorado to protest antigay Focus on the Family

At least 500 people braved cold temperatures and light snow Sunday in front of the Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., to protest the conservative Christian group's campaign against gay rights and same-sex marriage. The protesters held rainbow flags, multicolored balloons, and signs reading "God Loves Justice" and "Love Thy Neighbor." An American Indian group played drums, and some protesters sang "We Shall Overcome." Focus on the Family, founded and led by James Dobson, has vigorously opposed gay rights and same-sex marriage, urging voters during last year's election to vote for President Bush and in favor of constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, which passed in 11 states. "We are here to say, Jim, we love you enough to stop you from doing the damage you are doing to families across the nation," said Mel White, executive director of Soulforce, a national interfaith organization that supports gay rights. Thomas Minnery, director of public policy for Focus on the Family, watched the rally from inside the headquarters building. He denied that Focus delivers a message of hate but reiterated the organization's belief that homosexuality violates biblical scripture. "There are thousands of people who have left homosexuality, including some on our staff. To say that one is born that way obviously flies in the face of facts," Minnery said. Soulforce protesters planned to deliver letters detailing personal stories about the harm of antigay rhetoric and to talk to Focus staffers on Monday. They had pledged nonviolent civil disobedience if they were denied entrance. Dobson missed both events. He is traveling on the East Coast this week and was expected to be in Washington, D.C., for the National Day of Prayer events on Thursday. On Sunday, speaking to the crowd that included gay and lesbian couples, families, and children, White called Focus on the Family "a toxic religion zone." Kendra Wiig and her mother, Deborah Wiig, both of Denver, also challenged Focus's position. "Although Focus says homosexuality is against families and against religion, there are a lot of loving families with gay mothers, daughters, and sons," said Kendra Wiig, who is bisexual. In her last year at Colorado State University, Kendra said she fears for her desired career as a college professor if she is open about her sexuality. Focus has a program called "Love Won Out," which contends that homosexuality can be prevented or treated. Focus on the Family staffer Melissa Fryrear said she was gay for a decade before becoming Christian and realizing her new life was incompatible with homosexuality. "That's not a Focus on the Family stance. That's a biblical stance," said Fryrear, who talked to reporters inside a tent on the organization's grounds. Meanwhile, protesters were in a festive mood despite the weather, walking under several strands of rainbow-colored balloons, listening to music, and eating hot dogs. Children took turns trying to walk on stilts. Will Pharis and Rich Weinman, who live on a ranch near Cheyenne, Wyo., have been a couple for nine years. Both teach in Weld County in northern Colorado. They marched with hundreds of others around the Focus on the Family campus, which covers at least a city block. "We feel we wanted to have a presence here," Weinman said. "We are known in our school district as a couple, and we've had a lot of support from the teachers and administrators. I'm pretty convinced that mainstream folks are OK with diversity." During the Soulforce protest, a small group from the notoriously antigay Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., protested Focus on the Family for being gay-friendly because it encourages gays and lesbians to become heterosexual. The church made the news when its pastor, Fred Phelps, led antigay demonstrations after the 1998 slaying of openly gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard. Two parents and their gay son were arrested Monday when they crossed a barricade and tried to hand-deliver a letter protesting Dobson's antigay stance. When police warned Phil Reitan, his wife, and son they would be arrested, Reitan said, "I'm an attorney, I'm a Christian, I'm a father, I love my family." Phil and Randi Reitan and their son, Jacob, led a single-file march of about 150 people to the headquarters of the Focus on the Family ministry on the second day of a protest by Soulforce. A Focus on the Family representative met the demonstrators outside the light metal barricades and accepted stacks of letters from Soulforce. Soulforce said the letters objected to Dobson's teachings that homosexual behavior is a sin and that antidiscrimination laws should not extend to gays and lesbians. The Reitans said they wanted to deliver their own letter to Dobson personally and were arrested on trespassing charges when they passed through the barricades. Dobson, a child psychologist, founded Focus on the Family and has spread its message through his books and radio broadcasts that reach about 220 million people worldwide. His reach stretches beyond religious matters, his political clout growing as evangelical Christians have become politically active. Now he's lobbying against Democratic senators blocking President Bush's judicial nominees. (AP)