Mr. Hetero’s final chapter
Worcester Magazine notes that Tom “Mr Hetero” Crouse has dropped his lawsuit against the City, in which he claimed he was coerced into paying for a huge police detail to protect his “Mr. Hetero” pageant (see City documents for more). The City Solicitor writes:

The suit was dismissed by Rev. Crouse when it became apparent in depositions that Mechanics Hall, acting as his agent and fearing that the agreed upon number of police officers would not be sufficient to protect event attendees, actually requested additional paid-duty police officers above and beyond the number recommended by and agreed-to by Rev. Crouse and Mechanics Hall for the event to further ensure the safety of event attendees.

Earlier in his statement, the City Solicitor engages in fantasy:

Attendance at both the event and the protests was far less than expected due for the most part because February 18, 2006 turned out to be one of the coldest days of the winter.

There’s no evidence that the weather was the key factor; days before the event, Worcester Magazine was reporting that advance ticket sales were extremely low. For February, the weather was actually pretty nice; at least there wasn’t a blizzard or icy roads.

Fresno Catholic Workers and others support homeless woman vs. McDonald’s
Mike Rhodes writes at Indybay:

The arrest last weekend of a homeless woman at a Fresno McDonald’s led to a protest today. Protestors said Sherri Williams’s rights were violated when she was arrested for attempting to use the restroom at McDonald’s on Olive and highway 99. Speaking at the protest Liza Apper, of the Saint Benedict Catholic Worker group, said she was “here today to support Sherri and her husband Al who was discriminated against from getting service at this McDonald’s.” Liza said she would “like McDonald’s to acknowledge their policy of discrimination toward handicapped people and change. They should give the same level of service to their fully abled customers as they do to their handicapped customers.”

Mike Rhodes photo of Liza Apper

Snow Ghost Community Podcast
In order to answer a viewer question about the Community Show, Bruce and I taped a Snow Ghost Community Podcast. You can download the mp3, see other formats, or subscribe to the podcast feed. We’re planning to do another podcast every time we get a viewer question, or 100 downloads, whichever comes first.

More from the annals of stupid local pols
In Fitchburg, City Coucilor DeSalvatore spoke out on the poor and needy hanging out downtown:

They’re not there as consumers. They’re not there to shop. They’re just there because they have no place to go.

Many on both the left and the right oppose consumer culture, the reduction of people to wallets to be emptied. DeS seems to think he can pick up some votes by appealing to those who want to see society become more fragmented and depersonalized in the name of profit.

Kinda edgy. Still, some people are alientated by DeS’s message. There’s a blog dedicated to opposing this guy, and Progressive Fitchburg is making fun of his website and comparing him to a super-villain.

The idea was to create a pageant for the Culture Wars, a rally for straight guys who get their kicks fantasizing about being persecuted for their sexuality. It was held at Worcester’s grand Mechanics Hall, and there was talk of Mr. Hetero contests sweeping the nation.

The event was a fiasco, neither entertaining nor galvanizing. It was sparsely attended. A year later, the only trace of Mr. Hetero is a he-said-she-said lawsuit over who asked for an expensive police detail to guard the hall. Even the mrhetero.com domain name has reverted to a placeholder page.

Photo of Tom Crouse hosting “Mr. Hetero,” artfully cropped by Buck Paxton.

Other links:

• My description of the event at Indymedia
• Kevin Ksen covered the protests at Indymedia
• Post-mortem at Pie and Coffee

Demonstrators outside “Mr. Hetero.” Photo: Worcester Independent Media Center (Kevin Ksen).

Coach Williams apologizes: As explained by the capable Jim Wilson, Coach Pat Williams wrote a letter of apology, with one copy going “to Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director Richard Neal” and another to the newspaper. They didn’t reprint the letter by itself, but they quote what seems like most of it:

Mr. Williams’ letter begins: “I would like to apologize for bringing racism into the conversation I had with a reporter after the South-Holy Name game last Sunday. I realize now I have violated MIAA Rule 50.1.1, which prohibits public criticism of game officials, and I apologize for doing so.”

[...]

The letter goes on to say: “South High had a great season ending with a 19-3 record and the Inter-High title. Jinazean Ball was the first 1,000-point scorer since 1992; the other seniors, Brian Marvie, Raleek Byfield, Karl Gonzalez, Elijah Huges, Shamari Buchanan, Nick Beltre and Michael Johnson, ended their high school basketball career with dignity. I want to thank the entire basketball team for bringing the program back. I have apologized to the team for taking the spotlight away from them.”

Mr. Williams concludes: “Finally, I would like to congratulate Holy Name for getting into the championship game. This was never about Holy Name, their terrific team, or their coaches.”

I don’t know of any groups that have organized to push for an independent investigation of Williams’s charges of referee bias. According to the article, the MIAA is investigating the situation, but the extent of this investigation is not explained. Unless this investigation is thorough and transparent, I don’t think people will be satisfied.

ACLU may enter Mr. Hetero lawsuit: Milton Valencia reports that the ACLU is considering backing the Mr. Hetero organizers in their lawsuit against the city. The organizers don’t want to have to pay for the cops who guarded the event. From reading this article, it still isn’t clear if the city required Mr. Hetero to hire police for outside the event, or if this was a requirement of Mechanics Hall. The article reiterates that Tom Crouse asked for police protection inside the venue to prevent people from disrupting it.

If the ACLU gets involved, Pie and Coffee will ask them for a clearer explanation of the situation.

Bob Waldrop: got 8.2% of the vote in the Oklahoma City mayor’s race, with a no-budget campaign. He writes:

If I had known the watch party would be so much fun, I would have run for office years ago….

Coach Pat Williams: About 100 people rallied to support South High basketball coach Pat Williams Wednesday night at Worcester City Hall. He’s been attacked from all sides for suggesting that refs are biased against his team, and that the bias might be racial.

The show of support was fantastic. Dozens of people came forward to speak, including four members of the South High basketball team, who said they support their coach 100%. All kinds of people spoke, including many South High students, teachers, alums, and coaches. There were also teachers from other schools and other folks from around Worcester.

Hermis Yanis taped a lot of it for an hour-long show on the mighty WCCA TV-13.

Update: Worcester Magazine supports call for investigation.

Others askpeople to show their support for an independent investigation of the bias charges. Key points:

• This was not a post-game “eruption.” Coach Williams has repeatedly raised concerns within the school department about biased refereeing against South High.
• Principal Maureen Ciccone was aware of the situation, and attempted to address it earlier and immediately prior to Sunday’s game.
• Concerns about the referees have previously been brought to the attention of Athletic Director John Pepi who promised that the two referees in question would not be scheduled for the South/Holy Name game.
• Other coaches in the WPS system have also had concerns about the referees.

Ho, ho, ho: WoMag also remembers back to 1985 when Scott Schaeffer-Duffy and Dan Ethier raised concerns about conditions at the county jail.

Photo: Scott Schaeffer-Duffy arrested for protesting war toys while dressed as Santa Claus. Worcester Magazine.

Pope photo: Another wonderful one from Whispers.

Mr. Hetero mania: The links keep coming. Here is an inaccurate but detailed look at the event from someone concerned about the Gay Menace. In no way were the Mr Hetero demonstrations a gays-vs-Christians thing. None of the demonstrators were making anti-Christian statements to my knowledge, whereas Mr. Crouse himself has repeatedly insulted and derided both Catholics and most kinds of Protestants. All of the conservative Worcester Christians I’ve talked to thought that Mr. Hetero was a stupid idea. None of them supported it.

And here is an Indymedia comment purporting to give a brief history of Tom Crouse’s pastorship.

Update: Tom Crouse suing the city for the cost of the police detail he was forced to hire for his failed event. T&G:

Police Chief Gary J. Gemme had not seen the suit yesterday, but said it is without merit. He argued the event venue, Mechanics Hall, had asked for a bigger police presence given the expected protest, and sent an original invoice that accounted for more of a police detail than what was actually provided. He also said Rev. Crouse may have issues with the police presence now because the event raised far less in proceeds than had been expected.

Chief Gemme said he provided the security detail because it was requested. He called Rev. Crouse a bigot and said there was a low turnout because of the nature of the event.

“Obviously, he didn’t have enough money to pay for the venue and the detail,” the chief said.

The case was filed by the Alliance Defense Fund.

The chief said Rev. Crouse had raised concerns on his own that a protester could infiltrate the event and create a disturbance during the pageant.

This is a good point. At Mr. Hetero, Crouse repeatedly praised the police, and threatened the audience with police intervention if anyone caused any trouble. He clearly enjoyed their presence and essentially brandished them for his own purposes. He didn’t act like a man who was unhappy to be paying them.

It’s not at all clear to me how Mechanics Hall asking Crouse to pay for a police detail has anything to do with the City, or anything to do with free speech. Crouse was not holding this event on a street corner or in a park, and no government agency was asking him to pay anything. According to this story, Crouse was the first person to ask for cops, and then Mechanics Hall asked for more. There are far larger public demonstrations in Worcester (like the Coach Williams one last night at City Hall) that have no police presence. (Though uniformed police at public events are common around here.)

Sounds to me like Crouse got scared at the thought of protesters (it’s easier to show courage on a radio show than in real life), and only later realized that in Worcester we can have outspoken, public disagreements while remaining peaceful. (Maybe in Holland, Mass., they’re not so well-behaved.)

Crouse has talked about holding Mr. Hetero contests in other parts of the country. Will other people really want to co-sponsor a boring event that loses them lots of money and leads to lawsuits?

Jesuit podcast: The English Jesuits have a short, sweet podcast called pray-as-you-go. (Via Mark Mossa, S.J.)

Foie gras: They’re considering a ban on this gourmet item in Massachusetts–check out this Florida news story to see what the fuss is about. Warning: contains footage of rats eating ducks alive.

Zack Berger: is, among many other things, a Conservative Jew. And he’s been thinking through homosexuality:

1.1. The issue of homosexuality within (or without) halachah can be viewed in many ways….

2.1. Adult, loving, consensual homosexual relationships are to be morally valued, i.e. are the opposite of immoral.

See also: our interview with Zack.

Vern: In the tradition of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry, Vern tell’s it like it is:

As you know I have personally flipped off Dick Cheney from less than ten feet away, so I’ve looked into the eyes of the abyss.

[...]

If you believe that it’s okay for the government to tap your phone line without a warrant, you don’t believe in America. It’s that simple. I mean what do you think is the BASIC PREMISE of this fuckin place anyway? If you don’t give a shit about the most basic American values then 1) please give all your flags to somebody who deserves them and 2) stop trying to change what America is about. It’s not like you didn’t know what you were getting into when you lived here. Ben Franklin has not been kept secret from you. The constitution is widely available, you could’ve checked what it said. I’m not gonna tell you to move to Russia, because that would be unamerican. But you don’t go into a vegan sandwich shop and ask for ribs, and you don’t go to America and ask to be spied on by the government.

[...]

You can’t choose to abandon everything America is about because you’re scared. I’m not saying that’s for pussies, although it is. But I’m saying that it just doesn’t make any god damn sense. If freedom puts us in danger, that sucks. Because we’re keepin the freedom. That’s just the way we do it around here.

I also liked his Oscar column:

People tried to turn it into a gay thing, like “oh, Hollywood is trying to prove they’re enlightened so they’ll vote for a gay movie.” But I don’t think that’s even it. It’s just a good movie. And I should point out, Larry McMurtry wrote this movie. The guy wore jeans and cowboy boots to the Oscars. He wrote LONESOME DOVE. He doesn’t have a computer and still writes on a typewriter. If this guy is okay with the gays then maybe it’s time to figure this type of tolerance is normal and not something you need to brag about in 2006. BROKEBACK deserved it not because we gotta prove a point about a shepherd’s right to love another shepherd, but because it’s a real good movie.

Institutional Linens: has been demolished. It took only a few days.

The yellow house at left is on the corner of Mason Street and Mason Court, in Worcester. My house is the white house just left of the yellow house.

Go ‘Nads! Via Volcanoboy:

The 2005 Can-Am League Champions [Worcester Tornadoes] will begin their season at home on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 7:05 p.m. against the New Jersey Jackals at . . . Fitton Field, located on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross.

Boston’s Archbishop O’Malley: is becoming a cardinal.

Tim Murray, represent! In a fun post, Tom Crouse avoids discussing the disastrous aspects of Mr. Hetero, and instead “calls out” Worcester Mayor Tim Murray for dissing the event. Crouse writes:

But it is interesting to me that in their description of the event they call it “hate speech”. Now anyone who was at the event including gay activists have stated it was anything but hate speech.

It is also interesting that gay activist and Mr. Hetero ticketholder Peterson Toscano, who admittedly told Crouse he didn’t think the event was “mean-spirited,” described it on his blog as full of “fear” and “downright dangerous.”

Of the mayor, Crouse writes:

He made this decision without seeing the event, in short he made this decision misinformed and uninformed. This is a man who runs the second largest city in the state!

Crouse blogged this claim misinformed and uninformed: City Manager Michael O’Brien is the man who runs the second-largest city in the state, if anyone does. Worcester has a “weak mayor” system of government.

Mr. Hetero video: If you want the feeling of actually being at Mr. Hetero, you can spin around in a circle real fast a couple times, or get equally disoriented watching the T&G’s video highlights of the events and the protests.

Here’s a frame of Tom Crouse patting the belly of contestant Peter Doyle (?). It looks more scandalous than it was.

When I start my day-long “How to Talk to the Press” course, I’ll offer a half-price ticket to everyone in the video clip. This statement, in particular, is beyond comment:

I’m here to support my friends. And I’m also here to support heterosexual relationships. Because it seems like there isn’t tolerance for them anymore, and, um people are celebrating gay relationships but nobody’s celebrating heterosexual relationships anymore.

Update: my collection of Mr. Hetero-iana is here.

Keith Cardinal O’Brien of Scotland: reports on his recent trip to Darfur.

Television: Undertaker and PIP board member Peter Stefan discusses homelessness in Worcester on the Hermis Yanis Show, WCCA TV 13. Premiere: Thursday, February 23 at 10pm. Repeat: Friday, February 24 at 9:30am. Mr. Stefan has helped the homeless for many years, and has strong opinions about what the city should be doing about this problem. Turns out this week’s episode is a basketball game. Maybe next week….

The documentary Dealing Dogs is on HBO, Thu Feb 23 10:35pm PST; HBOHD, Thu Feb 23 10:35pm PST; HBOLAT, Thu Feb 23 10:35pm PST; HBOP, Fri Feb 24 01:35am PST; HBO, Mon Feb 27 07:30pm PST; HBOHD, Mon Feb 27 07:30pm PST; HBOP, Mon Feb 27 10:30pm PST; HBO, Thu Mar 02 08:50pm PST; HBOHD, Thu Mar 02 08:50pm PST; HBOLAT, Thu Mar 02 08:50pm PST; HBOP, Thu Mar 02 11:50pm PST. (Via Eric Prescott.)

Reusing plastic bags: “A couple in India have found a solution to the problem of plastic bags littering the streets of the country’s capital, Delhi – by turning them into fashionable handbags.” (BBC story)

You can do something like this in your own home: read “How to knit a plastic bag.”

Some very late Super Bowl links: The Snowsuit Effort, as always, brings the perspective of the people on the streets of Detroit.

Vern, writing on Seattle pride, mentions Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Lee before moving on to more recent times:

And let’s not forget the WTO riots. You know those Orwellian “freedom of speech zones” they use anywhere there’s a protest now? Everybody thinks that’s an invention of the Bush regime, but it’s not. The first time I ever heard of it was WTO the day Bill Clinton came into town. Clinton did it, to shut us up. Okay so that’s a negative contribution to society, you don’t want to go around bragging about that one but it just goes to show we’re some rowdy motherfuckers over here in Seattle. Bolt down your cars and board up your Starbucks windows if you hear the opening notes of “Electric Ladyland” off in the distance.

In an article in the Telegram & Gazette, Milton Valencia wrote that “An estimated 175 to 200 people attended the event.” According to Worcester Magazine, the hall seats 1500. The street outside was closed off and full of police; earlier in the week, it was estimated that the organizers might have to pay $6500 for police protection alone.

Mr. Valencia described the event as “more like a church service than a pageant.” I didn’t think it was like a church service; I thought it was exactly like at scout camp when the adult leaders get up at campfire and do a skit, awkward and half-assed. Nothing wrong with that, but they don’t charge $12 for it and hold it at Mechanics Hall.

I strongly suspect I would have had a better time standing out in the cold with the demonstrators.

There were very few references to human sexuality in “Mr. Hetero”–the “War on Christmas” was referenced more times than sex. There was a bit of preaching before the intermission, but this felt tacked on, and organizer Tom Crouse never did go into his theory or opinions of homosexuality in any detail.

There was no opportunity for me to enter the contest; seven men had been selected to compete in advance. The winner’s name wasn’t mentioned in the newspaper or TV coverage I saw, and it was not clear if the planned $100 prize was awarded. The guy did get a trophy. (Update: The Boston Weekly Dig gave Jimmy Ottino his due.)

The only part that didn’t disappoint was the “man who has renounced his own homosexuality.” I had hoped for some bizarreness here, and I got it. Turns out the guy felt ambivalent about women at age 14, decided he was gay and had sex with two guys at age 15, and at age 16 had a conversion experience and started liking girls. It’s possible that this man was delivered from homosexuality, but the simple and obvious explanation is that the guy was never gay to begin with, just confused for part of his teen years like so many other men.

Lots more detail in my Indymedia article.

Postscript

The Boston Weekly Dig reporter did a great job. His article was the only first one to mention winnner Jimmy Ottino’s name.

Kevin Ksen got the first quote in the Telegram & Gazette article, and I got the last:

“I didn’t know gay protestors were so scary,” said Kevin Ksen, a community activist, while pointing out the number of police officers patrolling the crowd.

[...]

Mike Benedetti, who opposed the nature of the event but was willing to spend the $12 to see what the hype was about, said he expected more, in protesters and in the event. It was a sizeable crowd in Mechanics Hall, but the show was more of a churchlike event than the ridiculous contest he expected.

“When the circus is in town, you go to the circus, and this is the circus,” he said.

“This is the circus”? Only in my dreams.

I loved this quote from Kevin Ksen’s description of the protests outside:

Equal in size to the police contingent was the media crew which worked the crowd for interviews and shots of kissing queers. I watched one eager TV camerman work for position to catch Worcester’s radical cheerleaders, only to emerge from the circle of onlookers mid-way muttering, “I can’t use that, they’re swearing.”

Demonstrators outside “Mr. Hetero.” Photo: Worcester Independent Media Center (Kevin Ksen).

In his post-event commentary, Tom Crouse of Engaging Your World Productions writes:

And by the way if you are the Mayor of Worcester and you signed the protest list without ever contacting me or anyone involved in the event, I will be in touch!

See also:

• Peterson Toscano thought it was both fascinating and dangerous.
• The Springfield Republican’s perfunctory article
• T&G video clip covering the event and the protests
• Jimmy “Mr. Hetero” Ottino speaks out!
• Coverage from Bay Windows, featuring the sleazy image

Here’s Mike Davis’s account in City of Quartz, which includes a hefty quote from chapter 10 of Russell Miller’s Bare-Faced Messiah:

Hubbard, meanwhile, was ready to employ the occult dramaturgy and incantatory skills that he had imbibed in Parsons‘s OTO temple to more lucrative uses. Frustrated with the small-­change earnings of a pulp sci-­fi writer, he founded a pseudo-­science, Dianetics, which he eventually transformed into a full-­fledged religion, Scientology, with a cosmology derived from the pages of Astounding Science Fiction. Russell Miller, in his fascinating biographical debunking of the Hubbard myth, described the notorious Shrine Auditorium rally, at the height of the original Dianetics craze in 1950, when Hubbard introduced the world to his own equivalent of Parson’s ‘scarlet woman’:

As the highlight of the evening approached, there was a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation in the packed hall. A hush descended on the audience when at last Hubbard stepped up to the microphone to introduce the ‘world’s first clear‘. She was, he said, a young woman by the name of Sonya Bianca, a physics major and pianist from Boston. Among her many newly acquired attributes, he claimed she had ‘full and perfect recall of every moment of her life’, which she would be happy to demonstrate.

‘What did you have for breakfast on 3 October 1942?’ somebody yelled. . . . ‘What’s on page 122 of Dianetics?‘ . . . someone else asked. Miss Bianca opened her mouth but no words came out. . . . As people began getting up and walking out of the auditorium, one man noticed that Hubbard had momentarily turned his back on the girl and shouted, ‘OK, what colour necktie is Mr Hubbard wearing?’ The world’s first ‘clear’ screwed up her face in a frantic effort to remember, stared into the hostile blackness of the auditorium, then hung her head in misery. It was an awful moment.

You gotta love that old Los Angeles O.T.O./Jack Parsons/proto-Scientology/Aleister Crowley scene. (Bonus link: Jack Parsons, Rocket Scientist of Satan!)

The official Mr. Hetero site describes the “healed” homosexual man only as “someone who will give testimony to the fact that Jesus Christ freed them from all their sins.” (This is a poor use of gender-neutral pronouns, especially from a guy who claims his event is “politically incorrect.”)

You’d think that in the midst of lighthearted competitions about duct tape and potato chips, having a guy give a speech about how he used to be gay would kill the buzz.

I’m glad that there will be several events protesting Mr. Hetero. That’s the image our city should present to the world–a place where tough issues are publicly debated.

Reading the pre-Mr. Hetero coverage in this morning’s paper, I can imagine the story the day after. “Protesters wrong: Event just goofy fun, not pure evil.” Listen, nobody’s claiming Mr. Hetero is going to involve human sacrifice. But I still don’t think this is a good Christian response to homosexuality.

But what do I know? Crouse:

I pray and encourage you all to pray for those trapped in the evil web of the hypocrisy and heresy that is known as the Roman Catholic Church!

Thanks, Mr. Crouse. We can use all the prayers we can get.

More kudos to Mr. Hetero for giving us this screengrab:

Pictured: Telegram & Gazette reporter Rich Nangle, who is not “Mr. Hetero Massachusetts,” but plays him on TV. Thanks to an anonymous tipster for pointing out this New England Cable News Jan 11 (Windows-only) video:

Anti-homosexual event angers some in Worcester–An upcoming event in Worcester, Mass. is creating some controversy with its anti-homosexual theme. “Worcester Telegram and Gazette” reporter Rich Nangle has more on “Mr. Heterosexual.”

Nangle:

You’ll have people tearing Oprah magazines in half. I’m not sure of the significance of that.

Postscript: ¿Quien es mas macho?

Worcester Magazine reports that Tom Crouse faces a $6500 bill for police presence at Mr. Hetero:

Crouse says he met with Worcester Police Department and Mechanics Hall officials, and was quoted a number. After that meeting, he says, he was told by Mechanics Hall that he’d have to pay for nearly 40% more officers to be available in the event of a large or unruly crowd, as well as $700 for a barricade outside the venue, where protesters are expected.

Tickets aren’t selling well:

[Police Chief Gary] Gemme says he has been told that the Mechanics Hall box office has only sold 20 tickets to the event, and that Crouse has personally sold about 200 more. The venue can seat up to 1,500.

I wouldn’t be surprised if 10% of the tickets were sold to people planning to disrupt the event.

Demonstrating outside might have an effect:

Both Gagne and Crouse say the organizer has sold “hundreds” of tickets and are expecting a large walk-in.

Imagine someone driving into downtown Worcester who hasn’t yet bought his ticket. He, and maybe his wife, are hoping to have a fun, Christian time. They cruise down Main Street looking for parking, and see dozens of demonstrators.

“Honey,” the wife says, “why don’t we just go down to Shrewsbury Street and have dinner instead?”

Tickets are $12, and it costs another $20 to enter the competition, with a first prize of only $100. Seems like kind of a ripoff to watch guys talk about duct tape and their “heterosexual role model.”

To encourage competition, I hereby offer $1 to anyone who enters and when asked, “Who is your heterosexual role model?” answers “Tom Cruise.”

In other news:

• Apparently the City of Worcester’s Human Rights Commission and City Manager’s Community Task Force on Bias and Hate Crime have denounced the Mr. Hetero contest.
• Tom Crouse recently removed all past comments from his blog. The comments helped those of us who didn’t listen to his radio show to follow his anti-Catholic statements. “Roman Soldier,” who frequented Crouse’s comments section, has his own blog. See ” Why I Can’t Support Mr. Hetero.”
• The mayor has spoken out in favor of free speech and against gay-bashing:
  

  . . . we must also vigorously exercise our own right to speak out and speak up and say we don’t condone or support events which unfairly and unjustly target a group of people because of their sexual orientation.

My firsthand report from the event is at Worcester Indymedia.

“There is no other organization, in my opinion, this side of NAMBLA that has done more to promote and enable the rape of kids than the Roman Catholic Church.”

Pro-gay groups are encouraging local institutions to boycott prestigious Mechanics Hall, which is hosting the event. Now Crouse is working to annoy the largest religious group in the state. Who will he alienate next? Patriots fans? Candlepin bowlers?

Postscript

Another comment:

I pray and encourage you all to pray for those trapped in the evil web of the hypocrisy and heresy that is known as the Roman Catholic Church!

Please see also “Let us now praise Mr. Hetero.”