The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has filed a free speech lawsuit supporting two LGBTQ counter protesters at a gathering aimed at stopping town officials in Swampscott, Mass. from flying the Pride flag.
Reports MassLive.com:
The Nov. 11, 2021 counter-protest was organized by the lawsuit’s two plaintiffs, Michael Picard of South Windsor, Connecticut and Heidi Olson of Gloucester.
The two were counter-protesting a group that was arguing that by flying Pride flags and supporting LGBTQ+ rights that the Swampscott town government was “trying to make everyone gay” and “make the kids gay,” according to the ACLU of Massachusetts in a news release and in its lawsuit.
The group was also there in support of former President Donald Trump and in opposition to current President Joe Biden, having affixed flags in support of the former president, U.S. troops and gun rights, the lawsuit states.
One or more of the demonstrators expressed views the counter-protestors considered “homophobic and offensive,” with one female organizer having allegedly called out to an individual displaying the Pride flag to “take down the flag, faggot,” days prior. …
The counter-protest primarily consisted of soliciting signatures for petitions in support of LGBT rights, advocating for a Pride flag to be hung along the Lynn seawall and demonstrating a handmade satirical sign which read “Let’s Make Everybody Gay,” the civil liberties group said. …
Picard and Olson also occasionally used bullhorns at the counter-protest to ensure that their voices could be heard, the ACLU of Massachusetts said.
“[Counter-protestors] did not impede anyone’s passage on the public sidewalks or grass,” the lawsuit states. “They were calm and pleasant in the face of anger coming from some of those they were counter-protesting.”
They weren’t alone. The lawsuit also states that at least one of the original demonstrators had also used a bullhorn to amplify the sound of a siren directed at the counter-protestors. One of the original protestors also called police in response to the counter-protestors’ presence, it added.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper, identified in the lawsuit as Trooper Devon Surian, then ordered Olson and Picard to stop using the bullhorns, as they did not have a permit, to which the pair complied, according to the lawsuit.
The trooper, also a defendant in the lawsuit, told the plaintiffs they did not have a permit to protest. According to the lawsuit, Surian had also told the original demonstrators they too could not protest on DCR property without a permit, but were then allowed to stay for over an hour.
The lawsuit also states that Surian told Picard and Olson they were not free to leave until they provided their names and contact information in conjunction with the use of the bullhorns and that he told one of the demonstrators that he knew that the pair were engaging in “inciting” conduct.
The lawsuit said this term was “presumably referring to the fact that they were engaging in a counter-protest that the demonstrators did not appreciate.”
Read the complete MassLive.com story here.
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