Police Out in Force for Crystal Lake Gay Games Regatta
This morning before 11, I went over to Crystal Lake’s Main Beach to see what was happening with the Gay Games.
What made the biggest impression was the show of force by the police. I drove on South Shore Drive.
Speed boats were enjoying the lake. This one is pulling a young child on a tube.
I saw that CCAPOA (Country Club Additions Property Owners Association) beaches had signs saying,
CCAPOA Members Only
Before I even got to the Main Beach, I saw the police boat with two officers in it. I don't think I have ever seen two officers in the boat, but maybe I have just not been observant before. (Having just seen the Piratis movie, I wonder if they were planning on boarding misbehaving boats.)
Next, I saw two Lakewood police cars, one sitting at Gate 4 and the other behind me at Gate 3.
As I drove past the last house west of the main intersection, I saw Christians holding signs. They were cordoned off behind a snow fence. Their small part of the area is where only traffic and those allowed to go behind another snow fence blocking off the west end of the Main Beach park where the regatta is being staged can see them.Christians must be really threatening to the powers-that-be.
Inside there were white shirts, blue shirts and green shirts on policemen. There was even a policeman on a bicycle talking with other blue and white shirted colleagues south of the Main Beach House. The only place I did not see police was north of the Main Beach House on the opposite end of where the Gay Games Regatta was being staged.
Nine police cars were parked on the grass south of the main parking lot.
There are two policemen standing near a gate on Lake Avenue across the street from what a snow fenced off area that is euphemistically called First Amendment Participation AreaIt is where most participants will never see it, of course.
We couldn’t have those giving the Christian message interacting with the public.
But, it was close to the media parking area. When I left at 1, ABC and CBS had trucks parked near the 1st Amendment area. In this photo, the Channel Two reporter is interviewing the Christians.Many more stories about the Gay Games in Crystal Lake Sunday at McHenry County Blog, including "4000 Attend" with photos of rowers and spectators.
13 comments:
Typical small-town police overreaction. But, its your tax money Cal. Blow it (sorry Cal) any way you like it.
Christians CAN BE threatening.
Radical "Christians" [actually those with those signs are the polar opposite of Christian] have this tendency to blow things up and to kill those ho oppose them. Eric Rudolph, Tim McVeigh . . .
Actually, Lakewood taxpayers are not paying the $5,000 bill for the police. The Gay Games agreed to pick it up.
Crystal Lake's bill is expected to $10,000, which will also be billed.
If you multiply 65 participants times their $75 fee, you can see that the Gay Games were willing to spend a whole lot of money to get the Crystal Lake venue.
By the way, if the Gay Games cannot pay its bills--as was the case the last two times around--the Crystal Lake Rowing Club is on the hook for at least the $5,000 that will be owed Lakewood.
As to whether the demonstrators are Christians, I have talked to them and you have not. They were quite gentle i demeanor. (I have just put up a separate story on them at McHenryCountyBlog.com. plus on the reporter who did not want his picture taken.
I'm sure you also object to Bush protestors routinely being penned up in "free speach" zones and gaurded with police in riot gear. That has been my usual experience, which makes these photos look tame.
On another note, most acts of domestic terrorism in the United States in the past 30 years have been carried out by white christians. Just think of all the abortion clinic bombings, burned churches, and OK city.
Hey Cal, ever talk to Eric Rudolph? I hear people from North Carolina say he was a kind and gentle guy and they would never belief that he would blow things up.
But he did.
I don't take much stock in how those people seemed to you. I take more stock in how the people who call themselves "Christian" [but who clearly are not] treat those who are different.
There are extremists on all sides of the religious issue, and you sure can't blame people for hiring some extra police to protect themselves from the Rev. Phelps and the Eric Rudolphs and the Tim McVeighs of the world.
All in all, the post was interesting, but more for what it says about religious tolerance in America in 2006.
Hey Cal, are you a little turned on by the games?
Cal's obsession with homosexuality is well known by those of us who have gotten to know him over the years.
I told him personally that he might benefit greatly with a little therapy.
His post reveals his obsession and, unfortunately, diminishes some of the insightful observations he has written over the years and will, I hope, continue to write about in the future.
Stick with taxes Cal.
Gee, anon Christian, I don't remember your advice, but I'm glad you're still keeping in touch, even if you are unwilling to provide your name.
I would have thought you would have suggested I was overemphasizing the police.
It is hard not to discuss the gay thing when they are having the gay games in Cal's back yard. He has been informative even if from a specific viewpoint but hardly obsessed.
To anon 9:11.
Really? The games are in my neighborhood and I have managed to ignore them.
That will happen when you believe that people can do what they want, as long as they are not injuring me.
Want to go play games in the park? Be my guest. It is none of my business.
"As I drove past the last house west of the main intersection, I saw Christians holding signs."
They may call themselves Christians but if you ask me the intolerance and bigotry they display only serve to blaspheme Christ's teachings of love and acceptance.
There's no reason you need to continue the myth that what these people do is somehow "Christian" (ie, Christ-like).
PS: This "First Amendment Participation Area" is no different than the pens set up for people who wish to protest our conservative president whenever he visits a locale.
the facist part of the so called gay rights movement is very very dangerous to freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of religion
Comments like the following are why the games need heavy security:
Anonymous said...
the facist part of the so called gay rights movement is very very dangerous to freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of religion
5:52 PM
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