The campaign today was simply great. So much happened that my mind is like a blur. But I will try to fill you in to the best of my abilities.
Just a few minutes after we started campaigning in Astoria this morning, an older woman peddling down the sidewalk on a bicycle lost her composure and began screaming insults at us at the top of her lungs: “You idiots know nothing. I’m an anthropology professor and I know what I am talking about. How funny,” she said sarcastically, “You’re a bunch of white, Anglo-Saxon men.” She parked her bike in front of me and pointed her finger a few inches away from my face, yelling personal insults. Then she saw Mr. Bruno Schroeder who has a darker complexion and called him an Arab who is being manipulated by white men to defend traditional marriage in America. I guess she was hoping to provoke some type of reaction from us, so when TFP volunteers ignored her obscene-laden vitriolic rant, she finally left.
Throughout the campaign, the opposition used silly arguments. In fact, on two occasions, pro-homosexual proponents found no better argument than to tell Mr. Schroeder to “go back to India and program computers.” Just for the record, Mr. Schroeder was born in London, England, and grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Full Support from Newly Married Couple
The intersection was lined with small shops, restaurants and offices. Large numbers of pedestrians walked the streets, which made the distribution of pro-traditional marriage fliers easy.
Overflowing with joy to see us on the streets, a newly wed couple received a copy of the TFP flier as they exited Starbuck’s: “Don’t worry, we did it the right way and the wedding was beautiful,” explained the wife. “We had a nuptial Mass with hymns in Gregorian chant. And it warms my heart to see you here protecting the institution of marriage. You are protecting my marriage. You are protecting me. Thank you so much.”
Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of three NYPD cars with six burly police officers. The senior officer asked: “Do you have a permit to be doing this?” I told him a permit was not needed. “But this is a busy area and you’re blocking the sidewalk. You need a permit,” he insisted.
The young couple, realizing the campaign might be shut down, jumped into the conversation and lobbied for us to stay: “Officer, this group is promoting traditional marriage. Their doing great work.” Then touching the police officer’s wedding band, the wife said: “Oh, look. You’re married. We got married almost a year ago.”
The situation turned in our favor. “The next time you come, let us know beforehand,” said the officer. “I’m going to leave a squad car here, not because I am afraid you might do something wrong, but because of what the other side might do to you,” he said. So it was reassuring to see a tall, husky police officer calmly standing against the red brick exterior of Starbuck’s, monitoring the campaign. At times, pro-homosexual individuals approached him to complain about our presence. When they did, he would nonchalantly shrug his shoulders and say something like “they’re fine.”
Disrupting free speech
So far, everything was going well. That is until two very vocal pro-homosexual women arrived and spent a good portion of an hour harassing, taunting, mocking and screaming obscenities at us. I’m not exaggerating. One of them took a copy of our flier, spit all over it, tore it up into small pieces, and littered the sidewalk with it. Pedestrians walking by, shocked by her attitude and gutter vocabulary, came in great numbers for copies of our flier and to manifest their support.
While this was taking place, a service truck drove by the curbside and the man riding in the passenger seat said in a loud voice: “Yea, we don’t want gay ‘marriage,’ we don’t want gay ‘marriage.'” This deflated the two pro-homosexual advocates. It got better. The newly wed couple met earlier reappeared exactly when the two pro-homosexual women were yelling their loudest. The young pro-traditional marriage lady gave me a hug, and then confronted them in no uncertain terms: “This group (TFP) represents me.” She told them if they wanted trouble they would have to settle it with her. With this, the counter-demonstrators withered away.
A gentlemen who watched the scene, remarked: “All they have is insults.”
Various Sidewalk Comments
“Why don’t you find something better to do with your time?” asked one individual, followed immediately by another person who said: “You guys are doing a great job. Keep it up.”
Another man told Mr. Cesar Franco this: “It’s only a matter of time before the majority is against you.” Mr. Franco replied: “The majority favors traditional marriage because thirty states have amended their constitutions to protect real marriage.” “Yea, I know. I’m from Arkansas, but I left the state to flee from you people.”
Another passerby said: “Yes, I’m glad to see there are actually normal people out here besides me.”
A young man in his early twenties, said: “The problem with the world today is the total destruction of religion. I am a Catholic and I am totally against same-sex ‘marriage.’ Kids in school today are indoctrinated to accept it. When are you coming back, we really need you around here.”
A local resident was surprised with all the support the TFP campaign for traditional marriage was receiving on the street. “I’ve lived here for a long time,” he said. “It’s getting so bad that you can’t tell who is straight and who is gay anymore. Last week, there was a table set up in our neighborhood, collecting petitions for same-sex ‘marriage.'”
It seems many busy intersections in Manhattan have people getting signatures for same-sex “marriage.” A few days ago in Brooklyn, we saw two ACLU reps collecting petitions for it.
Next campaign: Steinway and Broadway Avenues
A woman came up and asked: “Tell me, why was Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed?” When the TFP volunteer responded: “Because of the sin of homosexuality,” the lady was relieved: “Thank you! Thank you!”
A protestant pro-life activist said: “I commend you for what you are doing. I am Evangelical and Catholics are on the front lines in the fight for life and traditional marriage. Thank you.”
Fulton Street Mall, Brooklyn
“What’s next, bestiality?” asked a Jewish man rhetorically. “I am with you 100%.”
Mr. Thomas Schneider handed some fliers to a group of African American women at the street corner and one of them said: “There are so many more important things you could be fighting for.” Yet before Mr. Schneider had time to answer, a gentlemen on the street chimed in, saying: “No, there’s nothing more important than this. Give me some more fliers. I’ve got some friends who need to see this.”
After hearing what the TFP campaign was about, a lady remarked: “What you are doing is very gutsy!”
We met a lady from Florida who came to New York after losing everything in a hurricane. She now lives in a shelter where, she said, there are many homosexuals and told us how she was able to convert a lesbian.
Mr. Peter Miller was violently shoved by a man while holding the traditional marriage banner.
“You have to accept both types of marriage,” said a lady who paused to read our banner. Before we could answer, a man on the sidewalk replied in a strong voice: “No, you have to make a choice. You can’t accept both!”
Mr. Cesar was surrounded by a group of young people with mixed opinions on the issue. One of them, a pro-homosexual advocate, turned to a tall distinguished African American lady and said: “Can you believe them? They’re against same-sex ‘marriage.’ What do you think about it?” It was clear that they expected to find support for their position. However, the lady calmly turned to Mr. Franco and said: “Yes, I’m with you.” Then she turned to the group of people at the intersection and continued: “I’m against homosexual ‘marriage’ because I am Roman Catholic and as such, I believe in Revelation, which teaches that God made Adam and Eve.” Her motherly tone completely disarmed the young group surrounding Mr. Franco and they dispersed like little school children after class.
Please continue to pray for us and may Our Lady and Saint Joseph, our patron, save America from the sins that undermine the family and society.
God bless you and keep in touch.
Contact the Caravan
To contact the caravan, email them at [email protected]
How to Support the Caravan
If you want to help protect the sacred institution of marriage, please consider filling our van’s gas tank with fuel and keep us on the road for traditional marriage.
If you would like to make your contribution by mail, please send a check payable to The American TFP and mail it to:
The American TFP
P.O. Box 251
Spring Grove, PA 17362.