Dec 17, 2004  |  By: RYAN LEE  | COMMENTS     

ATLANTA — The rainbow bandana tied around B.J. Jackson’s left arm caught the eye of many people entering the King Center grounds Saturday morning, braving rain and cold to march in support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

“Yeah — we people,” Jackson said defiantly, her head nodding and arms stretched out in a crucified position.

“Amen,” said one woman walking by with her family.

The Dec. 11 “Re-ignite the Legacy” march — coordinated by Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia — drew between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to Atlanta Police Department estimates.

The trek from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s gravesite to Turner Field was in response to Long’s call for black churches to become more vocal political players on issues like banning same-sex marriage, reforming the education and health care systems, and creating economic opportunities for minorities.

“It’s time for us to get back into the conversation of the nation,” Long told his followers before the march. “Get back into the conversation and allow those things that we believe, firmly — know there’s a mandate for us to get [those] accomplished.”

Peaceful protest
Jackson, board chair of the black lesbian group ZAMI, was among the first of about 50 gay and lesbian protesters who assembled on the King Center grounds at 8:30 a.m., hoping to counter the church march, which was set to begin at 9:45 a.m.

But the counter protesters were soon told by park security that they could not remain on the premises. They moved their demonstration onto the streets of Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood. The counter protest’s visibility and numbers grew once they gathered on Jackson Street, but they were soon told to move again.

Atlanta Police Officer C.J. Franklin first told counterprotesters they were violating a city ordinance prohibiting signs larger than 2-feet by 2-feet from use in demonstrations. When protesters refused to believe Franklin, the officer told them they were assembled on private property and were potentially blocking traffic.

There is no city ordinance restricting the size of protest signs, but the officer was referring to the police department’s “Guidelines for a Peaceful Protest,” said Sgt. Connie Locke, APD’s gay liaison, in an e-mail interview.

“These guidelines are not city ordinances, but they are guidelines issued by the police department to all organizations that wish to demonstrate or protest to ensure public safety and public right of way,” Locke said. “Any [larger signage] presents a safety issue for those utilizing the sidewalk.”

Signs in hand, the counterprotesters finally settled on the corner of Jackson and Auburn Avenue, the starting point through which church marchers passed.

“I’m looking at the people just stream, and stream and stream down the sidewalk, and it amazes me how many people will wake up so early in the morning to support such a hateful message,” Jackson said.

The gay protesters — organized by activists Kevin Bynes, Anthony Antoine and Craig Washington — encountered little hostility, beyond a man crossing the street and staring face-to-face with them.

The diverse group was also chided when they chanted, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Homophobia has got to go!”

Standing across the street, Wanda E. White of Atlanta leaned toward the protesters to mimic their chant, but replaced “homophobia” with “homosexuals.”

“People live their lives like they want to, and I’m not here to judge them, but once you move God out of society, you have a big problem,” White said.

As marchers passed the protesters, their comments ranged from “I’ve got nothing but love for you,” to “You need Jesus” and “In the name of Jesus, wake up.”

Carrying a torch lit from the eternal flame at King’s tomb, Long marched past the gay protesters at 10:07 a.m., briefly glancing their way and offering a closed-lip smile.

“The worst behavior we had from the marchers was self-righteousness, but they were pretty well behaved,” said Bynes, who works for AID Atlanta. “Many of them mirrored Bishop Long’s smug attitude, sort of ignoring the fact that we were there.

“It’s painful to know they could ignore the pain of LGBT people and what they did to us,” added Bynes, who shouted “Shame on you!” as Long marched past.

March motives questioned
Long — flanked by his wife, Vanessa, and march co-organizer Rev. Bernice King, ...