So here’s a clip of the crazy lady (ExxonMobil shareholder?) who screamed at LGBT protesters outside the Meyerson Symphony Center this morning. She really was a lot of fun. At the end of the clip you can see my brief exchange with the woman, and if you listen closely you can hear a Dallas police officer tell me to “leave her alone.” As I reported earlier, this exchange led to my being told by police to go on the other side of the barricades, because I didn’t have my press badge. And as David Taffet reported, ExxonMobil shareholders later voted down LGBT employment protections, by an even larger margin than in years past. Perhaps the company should hire this lady as a spokesperson.
LMAO…it’s always the Christian old people.
I’ll be screaming “Shameless!” at denim on denim wearers for years to come.
I’m not really seeing what is so shocking here… Funny, yes; shocking, no. While I agree what she is saying is certainly crazy, the fact she was screaming is not what makes her crazy… There were people with mega phones pointed her way talking to her… She shouldn’t have been able to attempt to speak her, all be it ill-informed, message at a similar volume level? The middle of the street may not have been the best place to do it but she did look elderly and like she was shifting things around in her bag and probably had not realized she was still in the street since there were no cars coming. Forgetting your press badge was a big mistake on your part. Trying to pass it of as even a POSSIBLY anti-gay thing with the PD in even the slightest way though seems like a big stretch and, I hate to say it, a little irresponsible. There is nothing here to make a big deal about. What we need in my humble opinion is some more writing on the attack that took place in Oaklawn… Personally, I think we should be focusing very heavily on that right now. Even if the Voice feels it has already been reported on enough. Lest we forget.
@Damien: “Forgetting your press badge was a big mistake on your part.”
Maybe so. Then again, why should a member of the public who vouches that he is also a member of the media not be allowed to shoot video from the media side of the barricades? I was not creating any disruption whatsoever. I was simply doing what all the other media folks were doing. If LGBT Liaison Officer Laura Martin had been there, obviously she would have vouched for me, but she didn’t arrive until later. Still, I think if someone says they’re with the media and forgot their press badge — and isn’t creating a disruption — perhaps the police should give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s also somewhat strange that I had been out there for over an hour when the police decided to say something. And that they were so overly friendly to this woman and told me to “leave her alone.” Anyhow, since you mentioned it, I do plan to post video later today of Chief Brown speaking about the hate crime last night. Thanks.
@John … “I do plan to post video later today of Chief Brown speaking about the hate crime last night.” Thanks John. That’d be helpful.
This crazy has straight-up stolen the costumes from Little House on the Prairie: The Musical. Melissa Gilbert is gonna be PISSED!!!
“why” “why” She’s really quite eloquent. I liked that you got a shot of my dear friend Jason Janik in the background shooting photos Quick!
Oh my is that apple Annie from Pocketful of Miraclesis? Dressed like it, but not so nice!
she believes gays should be discriminated from here to here. shameful rustic wench!
Last year 40% of shareholders voted in favor of “partner benefits.”
This year 22% of shareholders voted in favor of “partner benefits.”
Almost HALF the support we had the previous year.
Thank-you Mark Reed and your band of GetATTENTION clowns.
Sorry John, but forgetting your press credentials was not the police officers fault. Man up and admit you were at fault. Don’t fault them for doing their job. You certainly did not do your job properly.
Anyone can say they are a member of the media. Hell, I own high end digital camera equipment myself and used to shoot professionally, so I could have walked up there and claimed I was a member of the media as well.
The reason credentials are given out is to PROVE you are a legitimate member of the media. Your lame excuse that the Liaison officer could have vouched for you is unprofessional. It is not her job to make sure you bring your credentials. It almost sounds like you are blaming her for not being there to cover your mistake.
It is comments like yours that have people saying we are asking for special rights. You are insisting that you should have been able to stay there because of who you are – when in fact you had no proof that you should be allowed there. Would you expect a straight media representative not be questioned if they didn’t have their credentials?
@Dale: You’re wrong on several counts.
One, I was in no way blaming Laura for not being there. I merely pointed out that if she had been there, she could have vouched for me, because she obviously knows who I am. I have no idea where you’re getting the idea that I am somehow blaming her. You’re reading WAY too much into what I wrote, and you’re suggestion that I was unprofessional for noting this is absolutely ridiculous.
Two, a major fallacy of your argument is that ANYONE, including you with your “high-end” equipment, could simply make media credentials for themselves with their home computer and a printer. No law enforcement agency in Dallas certifies or issues media credentials. We make our badges ourselves. So the whole thing is just silly.
Three, special rights? What are you talking about? When did I ask for special rights? I simply asked for the same rights as the rest of the media. But really, any member of the public should have been afforded this same right, with or without credentials. I was on a public sidewalk filming something in public view. I was not creating any disruption whatsoever. One thing we are seeing is more and more citizen journalists. Are you suggesting that every blogger or videographer should be required to have “credentials” to film something from a public sidewalk?
Finally, you’re completely ignoring the context. Again, I had been at this location for an hour before the police said anything. They only said something AFTER the encounter with the woman in the video.
Also, I should note here that we had two articles in last week’s Voice that were relatively critical of the police department. The criticism did not come from me; it came from crime watch leaders and from one of our columnists, David Webb. I would not rule out that today’s incident was some sort of retaliation for those articles.
The fact of the matter is that homophobia is widespread in the ranks of police departments. There is no denying this; these are paramilitary cultures. I never said definitively that I think anti-gay bias was a factor in this incident, but I’m certainly suggesting it as a possibility.
You would think this woman was AndrewW or related somehow. Sure is cranky like him.
If the cops thought you were straight, they would not have made you get behind the barricades. Absolutely this was a situation of homophobia and unfair treatment.
Just more GetATTENTION insanity.
This protest was useless. In fact, the evidence shows it hurt us.
It’s easy to be a self-described ‘activist’ because anybody can play the “fool.”
More stunts are coming and I think we should be concerned about hostage-taking and bomb making with these 10-20 misfits.
and on another note, maybe the fact that the radical screaming match held outside was still so fresh on their minds, that it caused the majority of the votes the be “even greater” this year….
words to live by “the biggers asses we make of ourselves, the less likely we are to succeed in what we want”