RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Russell Castagnaro, left, and Steve Bentley argued yesterday about the Family Day Parade and its exclusion of homosexuals at a protest held during the parade near the intersection of Kapahulu and Kalakaua avenues.
Gay advocates
protest paradeGay rights groups were excluded
from the Family Day event
As Mayor Jeremy Harris, sitting on the back of a white Rolls-Royce convertible, waved to the crowds during the Family Day Parade in Waikiki yesterday, protesters called to him, "Shame on you, Mayor Harris."
CORRECTION
Monday, July 7, 2003>> The Aloha Pregnancy Centers' van in Saturday's Family Day Parade included the message "Choose Life." A story on Page A13 yesterday incorrectly reported that the group's name was Choose Life.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
At least 50 demonstrators, at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues, protested the exclusion of gay and lesbian rights groups from the parade that they say was sponsored by the Hawaii Christian Coalition but paid for with taxpayer money.
"Even if the city supplies just one firetruck, that is giving government consent to hatred and bigotry," said Mark Wojcik, 41.
Another protester, the Rev. Vaughn Beckman, of the First Christian Church, held a sign that read, "Bigotry and Hate Are Not Family Values."
Beckman said: "I'm concerned that the city has become bedfellows with the Christian Coalition, which is a far-right group politically and religiously. This group loves to divide people, and they are doing that here."
Harris defended his administration's support of the Kids' Day Parade, saying: "The gay and lesbian groups had their parade last week, and we supplied the very same city services with coning, road signs and police, and even the Royal Hawaiian Band. Why would the Kids' Day Parade be different?"
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Bill Woods, left, and Mark Wojcik protested yesterday's parade near the intersection of Kapahulu and Kalakaua avenues.
He added, "I'm sorry the Kids' Day Parade has become a battleground for gays and lesbians."
Asked if he marched in the Gay Pride parade, Harris said, "No, I don't do that parade."
The controversy over city support of the Christian Coalition's parade will continue in federal court.
About eight days before the parade, the American Civil Liberties Union, acting on behalf of three gay and lesbian groups who were denied permission to march in the parade, filed a federal lawsuit against the city.
The ACLU argues that city personnel and funds were used to organize and run the parade and festival, so gay and lesbian groups should have been allowed to participate.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ruled that although the parade was part of the city's Family Day activities, it was privately sponsored by the coalition, which has the right to deny an application to any group with which it does not agree.
Harris said the parade was not political and that none of the participants had obvious political stands. When it was pointed out that the anti-abortion group Choose Life had driven a van in the parade, Harris said he was not aware of their participation.
Other participants in the parade included beauty queens waving from vintage convertibles; Christian school and church groups; Korean, Tahitian, Chinese and Vietnamese organizations and dance troupes; 200 Police Athletic League marchers; and 45 city vehicles, from a fire engine to support vans.
During the parade there were several sidewalk disputes between the gay and lesbian protesters and others. A small group standing on the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues started shouting at one another as a line of about eight police officers watched. The police were ready, the cargo pockets on their pant legs full of white plastic strap used to cuff people.
Several bystanders told the protesters that families are made up of a husband, wife and children. The protesters argued that single mothers or fathers with children were also families, just as gay or lesbians with adopted or biological children were families.
One woman yelled, "There are children here, and we don't like what you do and we don't want you saying anything in front of them."
Russell Castagnaro, 34, shouted, "This isn't about sexuality, it's about civil rights."
Gerald Schraepfer, 38, bellowed back: "If you have a problem with this parade, then don't come. I didn't come to your parade and yell."
