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CROWD: (CHANTING) Hey, hey, ho ho. Anita Bryant didn't show. Hey, hey, ho ho. Anita Bryant didn't show.

Hey, hey, ho ho. Anita Bryant didn't show. Hey hey. ho ho.

DAN OLSON: The chant by her detractors was correct. Anita Bryant was not in Saint Paul last night, as she had hoped to be, but her opposition to Saint Paul's gay rights ordinance was voiced by her husband, who spoke in her stead at one of three rallies. The gatherings precede next week's vote in Saint Paul. Besides being a political primary, the voters will decide whether or not to repeal that city's gay rights ordinance that has been in effect for about four years.

About 43 cities in this country have some sort of protection from discrimination for gay people. In five of those cities, including Saint Paul, there are efforts by opponents to repeal the laws. A good deal of the support for the repeal effort is coming from people who support the work of Anita Bryant.

She led a successful campaign in Dade County, Florida, to repeal the gay ordinance there. Her supporters have targeted Saint Paul as their next goal. Some months ago, they organized church and civic leaders to get signatures for a petition to put the city's gay rights law before the voters, Tuesday, April 25. The drive was successful, and now they are working to get voters to the voting booths.

Other Saint Paul residents, also including clergy and civic leaders, opposed the repeal effort. They are also organizing voters, raising money and trying to maintain voter interest. The people opposing repeal have disagreed on tactics, and there has been a split. So last night in Saint Paul, there were three gatherings.

About 8,000 people supporting repeal met at the Saint Paul Civic Center Arena. One group of about 2,500 people opposing repeal of the gay rights ordinances marched from the Capitol to Saint Paul City Hall back to the capital. And another group of about 200, more militant opponents of the repeal effort, met at the Civic Center theater about half a block away from their opponents.

There had been rumors that violence would occur due to the proximity of the two groups, but both sides made every effort to avoid violence. Security was present, but Saint Paul Police had a reduced complement of off-duty patrolmen at both locations. For the next hour, we will hear some of the sounds from the three gatherings.

The Anita Bryant supporters said they expected 10,000 people at the Civic Center Arena rally. And early in the evening, it was apparent from the lines of church buses ringing the center that the audience would be a large one. Most of the buses were from churches in the Twin Cities area, but they also came from farther away in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Most of the people wore clothes you would see at a Sunday morning church service. And as the families and large numbers of young people walked up the concourse to the arena, they were met by a variety of people pushing their cause. They were political candidates, and there were also proponents of relatively obscure religious groups.

But there were well known and well-heeled gospel groups, too, such as the Jerry Falwell ministries. His people were handing out four-color brochures describing the church, the youth program, the missionary training and the Christian academy for students, complete with an envelope and computer pledge card for the amount of donation you would like to give. The audience filed into the arena and saw a large stage with little ornamentation, but the platform was filled with perhaps 100 chairs that would soon be filled with clergy and civic leaders supporting the repeal effort in Saint Paul.

One of the speeches was by Anita Bryant's husband, Robert Green. And before the speeches began, however, the people met a variety of folks in the concourse. One of them, Jan Golden.

JAN GOLDEN: Yes, from Lovelines.

DAN OLSON: What can you tell me about Lovelines?

JAN GOLDEN: We're a 24-hour Christian telephone lines. And if you have problems or your friends do of any kind, we will listen. And if you want to meet Jesus to help solve your problems, we will lead you to Jesus.

DAN OLSON: Who are the counselors?

JAN GOLDEN: The counselors are from churches, from all over the Twin Cities. And they're all Christians and they've all made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

DAN OLSON: How are you different from other emergency telephone line service like Youth Emergency Service or others?

JAN GOLDEN: We're different because we bring them the love of Jesus. And when you have Jesus, he's the one that takes care of your problems.

DAN OLSON: Thank you. Nice talking with you.

JAN GOLDEN: Thank you.

DAN OLSON: Jan Golden of Lovelines. Once past the vendors in the various interest groups, the crowd settled into their seats in the Civic Center Arena. The crowd was warm from singing hymns and being entertained. Then the speeches began. One of the first to speak, Anita Bryan's husband, Robert Greene.

[APPLAUSE]

ROBERT GREEN: Shake me up right from the beginning.

[CLEARS THROAT]

The reason you shake me up is because I know it's not for me. I know it's for Anita.

[LAUGHS]

First of all, I want to explain to you that I'm not a public speaker. And to the press, whose cameras started whirring the minute I came up here, there's really no spectacular story tonight, and I'll explain that in a minute. I have a whole bunch of notes here, not being used to public speaking like my brothers in back of me.

I have to rely on this. And I wrote these things on the plane. It really thrills my heart to see the responsible leadership of this community gathered together on stage like this. It's just good to know that in times like this, we can forget our petty differences and really agree on a very basic moral issue that's important to the survival of this country. It's also good to see over--

[APPLAUSE]

It's also good to see over 8,000. Some official back there said it was more like 9,000. It's really good to see that.

The devil has really been working overtime. And someday, somehow, I hope to share with you the trials and tribulations that even I have had in coming here today. He's really working overtime. I'd like to congratulate Dr. Angwin, and Bill Chapman, and Bill Faulkner and the local committee for the stand that you're taking against the organized forces who are contributing to the moral breakdown in this nation.

[APPLAUSE]

And of course, they can't do it without your support and your help. I oversee an organization that was formed as a result of the now famous Dade County ordinance. The organization is called Protect America's Children. And I ask for your prayers that the Lord will guide me in all the decisions that I have to make.

Young gal, a reporter stopped me backstage just before we came up on the platform, and she said, gee, aren't you afraid? Or is the reason that Anita is not here because of the threats and the demonstrations and all that? And I said-- I kind of chuckled a little bit. I said, no way.

If we've learned anything this past year and a half, it's that I suppose it's an unfortunate commentary on our times, but we're used to this. We get it wherever we go. We get it in churches. We get the obscene gestures in church services, the obscene T-shirts and everything else. I think what we're dealing with is a fundamental hindrance of our religious freedoms in this country.

SPEAKER: That's right.

[APPLAUSE]

ROBERT GREEN: My wife was really looking forward to being here, as was I. In a way, we were looking forward to it. In a way, we weren't. But we really were with all our hearts.

We had our musical group scheduled and the travel plans had been made. But the doctors ordered us to cancel not only this appearance but a few others. In all honesty, even if the doctors had not ordered her not to come, I would have been the bad guy tonight. And I probably would have said, look, Anita, you shouldn't perform.

Because I've seen Anita perform under all kinds of adverse circumstances during our 17 years of married life. I've seen her sing with the flu, laryngitis, all kinds of illnesses. I've seen her do that in snowstorms on stage in Korea, with the GIs in Vietnam and the sound of gunfire. I've seen her in the bitter cold one day in Texas without music singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic as she lowered-- as they lowered President Johnson into the ground.

This is the first time she's ever missed a performance in our 17 years. And you'll have to take my word for it that this is the one that hurts her the most because she desperately wanted to be here. You have to realize that her burden is far greater than your disappointment in her not being able to be here.

And you need to uphold her with your prayers so she can overcome that guilt that shouldn't be there. And I have an obligation to support my wife, and I have to help her make those kind of decisions that are really tough to make. And with the help of the Lord, you know, he just gets me by on those.

Anita is on the road to recovery. There's nothing drastic. It's a typical illness. And with God's help and your prayers, she's going to come back stronger than ever. She's a strong Oklahoma Indian.

[APPLAUSE]

She's a strong Oklahoma Indian Cherokee and Scotch, Dutch, and Irish and everything else. And you can't keep those Okies down. I figure about two weeks and she'll be back in good shape.

That's the interesting thing. It just brought to my mind that I don't even have it on the notes. See, I'm ad libbing already.

[CROWD CHATTER]

Hey, everybody knows that every time you take a stand like this for moral decency or Bible morality, you're called a bigot. If you don't agree with them, then they call you a bigot. And Anita is no exception. She's probably been called a bigot more than anybody else in the history of this country.

And of course, she's called a bigot because she's supposed to hate the Blacks and all that. And we had a press conference with the National Religious Broadcasters in Washington, DC. And as at most press conferences, there's usually a plant who asks that one tough question. He's waiting for his day in the sun.

And we were towards the end of the press conference and he got up and was nervous. He was very polite. He said, Ms. Bryant, I understand that you belong to a church that discriminates against Blacks. Would you care to comment on that?

It was obvious that he had some great inside information. We love those kind of questions. They're the greatest.

And she had been asked them before, but never in a national setting like that, because the press corps of Washington was there. And she very calmly said that, I'd like you to know that we have Blacks in our church. As a matter of fact, and this is Anita talking, I teach 11-year-old girls in Sunday school. And half of the girls in Sunday school are Black and another portion of them are Cuban.

And the topper to the whole thing was that towards the very end of the press conference-- well, the man sat down, but towards the very end of the press conference, a Black preacher came up who we had never met. And he came to the microphone and he says, I know this is very unusual for a press conference and I have no business doing this. I'd like you to know that what Ms. Bryant says is true because I have relatives that go to Northwest Baptist Church and are very active and very happy in that church.

CROWD: Amen.

[APPLAUSE]

ROBERT GREEN: If we as Christians are going to stand by and see this country destroyed, and if that's what's in store for us, and we deserve it, then let it begin right here in Saint Paul. If the people of this area are going to be apathetic, if they're going to allow a small group of militants to dictate to the majority of morally sound people, then we deserve it. We got it coming.

We're still scratching our heads wondering how prayer ever got out of school. How did that ever happen? That was not the will of the majority of the people.

There's a thing floating around called the Panama Canal issue. That's over. It's obvious from every poll I've ever read that the great majority of the people of the United States were for against what was voted on today.

[APPLAUSE]

What does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. It means that we're being run in this country by a small group of very highly active people. And we're voting officials, we're voting politicians into office who will come home to their constituents and talk like conservatives, will write conservative newsletters, and then go back to Washington and vote any way they please. And it's time that we--

[APPLAUSE]

It's time that we start learning the ropes and we start getting active and voting in morally sound, decent people so that we can get a shot in legislation that's going on. And that's why Anita and I support--

[APPLAUSE]

Mike Manning, you want to stand up? Mike?

[APPLAUSE]

Any time you want all out support from Anita and myself or whatever we got, Mike, you got it. We need more guys like you in this country.

[APPLAUSE]

We're not into politics, but we're sure support people like you. Because the other side is getting all the support they need and they're not afraid to back their people. And I think we need to get representation there, too.

[APPLAUSE]

I'm almost finished folks.

[LAUGHS]

You ask about what Anita is all about, and you can call her an activist, or crusader or whatever. But if you take away all those labels that have been put on her by the media and everybody else, and if you were to know her and love her like I do, you'd consider her as a friend, and a Christian mother and a wife who's just trying to keep the Lord on the throne.

[APPLAUSE]

See, she's not a Jane Fonda. She's not a Shirley MacLaine because that's their bag. They know exactly what to say.

And if you guys in the press ask one of them feminists a tough question, they'll hit you back with a four-letter word. They won't answer your question and you guys will lump it. And you'll say, that's it. But Anita Bryant and her kind are so honest and so accommodating that they'll accommodate you and then you'll rip her apart. And that's where it's at in this country, fellows.

[APPLAUSE]

I'll tell you another thing. When was the last time you saw a Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine blacklisted or picketed? They're activists, too, right? Would you say, well, they got their rights?

They can stand up for garbage like ERA and all those numbers. They do have their rights. But then I say, don't come down hard on somebody who is on the other side of the fence who also has rights to differ.

[APPLAUSE]

I'll tell you right now, in our travels, we got the heartbeat of the country. We know what's going on and it's turning conservative. And one of these days in our lifetime, we're going to see a difference in this country.

CROWD: Amen.

[APPLAUSE]

ROBERT GREEN: You see, you have awakened a sleeping giant. The generally apathetic majority of American people are becoming no longer apathetic. So look out.

[APPLAUSE]

That's witnessed by the people on this platform and the people similarly who were on the platform in Dade County. Church leaders never were supposed to get involved in any kind of issues like this, but they're doing it all over the country.

[APPLAUSE]

You know why? Because we're not on a crusade out to harm anybody.

SPEAKER: That's right.

SPEAKER: That's right.

ROBERT GREEN: But we're on the defensive.

[APPLAUSE]

Anita and I read our devotions every morning. It's from Streams in the Desert. And the devotion that we read yesterday was so applicable.

And I'd like to read it and then I'll get out of your hair. But I really thought that it was really neat. This was for April 18. And I think it really applies to Anita and that's why I wanted to read it.

"I once thought that after I prayed, that it was my duty to do everything that I could to bring the answer to pass. He taught me a better way and showed that my self efforts always hindered his working. And that when I prayed and definitely believed him for everything, he wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise and only do what he bade me.

It seems so unsafe just to sit still and do nothing but trust in the Lord. And the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous. We all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer. It is equally impossible for the Lord to fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them ourselves.

It is not that he will not, but that he cannot. Our interference hinders his working. Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active. It takes time for God to answer prayer.

We often fail to give God a chance in this respect. It takes time for God to paint a rose. It takes time for God to grow an oak. It takes time for God to make bread from wheat fields.

He takes the earth, he pulverizes, he softens and he enriches. He wets with showers and dews. He warms with life. He gives the blade, the stalk, the amber grain and then at last, the bread for the hungry.

All this takes time. Therefore, we sow, and till, and wait and trust until all God's purposes have been wrought out. We give God a chance in this matter of time. We need to learn the same lesson in our prayer life. It takes time for God to answer prayer."

In closing, I appeal to you to be in prayer for Anita, and for me and for my family. These are difficult times for us, and we have difficult decisions to make. And the pressures are really something.

Pray that God will rebuke every satanic attack and that God will heal Anita and strengthen her for the great burdens that she has for this nation. We're fighting forces that we've never dreamed were possible. We're being bombarded by visible and invisible forces of evil.

And in closing, I'd like to close with this scripture. And I was looking for this scripture, and I opened up my Bible. And Brother Bill, did you know this-- I got this yellow marker that I mark out my Bible.

And you preached on this at Northwest on May 27, 1977, just before the vote. And I have a little notation. I always put a parentheses with the date.

Ephesians 6:10-20. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done so to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of gospel peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith, ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Praying always with prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." Praise the Lord.

[CROWD MURMURS]

[APPLAUSE]

DAN OLSON: Robert Green, the husband of Anita Bryant. The reception at both ends of his speech was long and warm. The same sort of reception was given to another hero of those supporting repeal of Saint Paul's gay rights ordinance.

He is the Reverend Richard Angwin, a Baptist minister from Saint Paul. He has spent much of his time the past few months gathering signatures for getting the repeal measure on Tuesday's ballot. And he has also been speaking to various groups. The Saint Paul Civic Center Arena meeting was more of a meeting of like minds than a meeting to win converts, and the Reverend Angwin's remarks reflected the occasion.

RICHARD ANGWIN: I began to look around and try to find out just who was on the Lord's side. So I started teaching, and preaching and talking about it and under threats and everything else. And slowly a few people began to speak up about the issue.

And all I had at first was I just used to say, well, it says, well, who you got on your side? And I'd say, well, I don't know. I'm going to check.

Paper constantly calls me, who you got on your side? I learned last night-- I spoke at a Catholic Church locally, one on the other side stood up and said, sir, you got quite an ego. I said, wouldn't you have an ego if God was on your side?

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

So I heard of Anita Bryant's illness. This shaky preacher began to tremble. And then I heard about Dr. Falwell.

[LAUGHTER]

Then I called Brother Bill Faulkner and said, I'm sick and I expect it'll be a month before I can recover.

[LAUGHTER]

I just sort of felt lonely. And Brother Bill Chapman said-- preacher, he said, until you're desperate, you'll never have a revival. So I believe God presented a very good situation of desperation.

I thought I'd take advantage of it, and I was really quite depressed. I thought, well, God, if 2,000 people show up here tonight, I'm just going to be so excited. Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is 9,000 people that haven't yet bowed their knee to Baal.

CROWD: Amen.

[APPLAUSE]

There's three folks I just want to mention a word. And I hope that you trust and know them already, but I feel very good about the wisdom and the counsel that these three folks have been to me. And they've all taken it on the chin.

One of them has already been introduced and that's Senator Manning. Senator Manning, I just thank God for you and for your stand for the Lord.

[APPLAUSE]

He came by late the other night and he said, well, he'd heard about Anita and this thing. And said, well, preacher, he said, are you going to-- he says, what are you going to do? I said, well, I'm thinking about running for office. He said, I think you better run for the border. So I appreciate that.

And then, bless God, I think there's one lady in our city that I'm sick and tired of hearing the press slander and turn around.

[APPLAUSE]

Every good and decent thing that she's tried to do for you, and for me and my family. And I want to stand here tonight and say that I'm very proud of Rosalie Butler.

[APPLAUSE]

I came home one night after being threatened by homosexuals and lesbians two years ago under the threat of-- they don't want you to preach and teach on that anymore. I came into our home and our home had been shot up. Our little poodle was shot and killed. A bloody ax was laid across our children's bed.

And I don't mean to be too frank, but human waste was on the floor. My Bible was torn up. My sermons were ripped.

And I got to thinking about what this all meant. And folks, you know what I think it is? I think it's indecency telling decent people, you better stay in the closet. And I'm here to announce tonight that Dr. Richard Allen Angwin is going to stand for this book, this Bible and decency.

[APPLAUSE]

DAN OLSON: The Reverend Richard Angwin of Saint Paul, one of the local leaders supporting the repeal of Saint Paul gay rights ordinance.

CROWD: (SINGING) Us, we'll stand together We'll stand together We'll stand together Oh, you can't scare us We'll stand together We'll stand together till our rights are won

There once was an ordinance that made a lot of sense For days and nights, we had our rights not knowing they would need defense. For some bigots tried to say, let's take our rights away We'll make them pay, the ones who say they're proud of being gay Oh, you can't scare us

DAN OLSON: About. 2,500 opponents of the repeal effort marched from the Capitol in Saint Paul to the City Hall. Then they marched back to the capitol, where songs and speeches continued into the late evening hours. They also had clergy and civic leaders to listen to, but the message was very different from the comments to the Civic Center Arena audience. Saint Paul Mayor George Latimer.

GEORGE LATIMER: Thank you, everybody, for demonstrating a statement, which I hope is going to be repeated on Tuesday by the overwhelming people of Saint Paul. That statement will be to the rest of the country that we care very much about individual human beings, that we care very much that every person will have all of the rights available to every other in our society, that--

[CHEERING]

--that Saint Paul, Minnesota, will, in our small way, tell the country that a pluralistic, growing, wonderful city can gather together its population from every walk of life, every religion, and every color and every age, and make a statement that there is such a thing as human privacy. That human sexuality is indeed sacred in its privacy. That we will not--

[CHEERING]

--and that we will not have discrimination. We will not have hypocrisy. We will not have hate.

We will not have fear living in this city. We will put it down and put it down forever. Thank you.

[CHEERING]

DAN OLSON: Saint Paul Mayor George Latimer. The speeches to the opponents of the repeal effort were shorter than those being heard at the Civic Center blocks away, but there were more speakers. The impression was that the people working to keep the ordinance on the books were trying to include speakers from many areas to show that the support is broadly based. The Saint Paul Human Relations Council Director Ora Lee Patterson.

ORA LEE PATTERSON: It's indeed a pleasure to be here tonight before you and support a cause of human rights. Indeed, it is a cause of human rights.

[CHEERING]

We are all proud to be citizens of a single strong nation, the United States of America. We have a more perfect union in the diverse cultures that make up this great country of ours. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees the general welfare of all persons.

[CHEERING]

If we are governed by our constitution, then how can we deny the rights to some individuals in employment, housing, education and public accommodations?

[CHEERING]

One cannot have prosperity unless he is employed. One cannot have prosperity unless he or she has a place to live without fear of intimidation. The Saint Paul Human Rights ordinance, as it is presently drafted, promotes the objectives of a free and responsive society and provides a safeguard against blatant and rampant discrimination against certain groups of people. Since when do a select group in our society try to make a determination on who should not have rights of a citizen?

[CHEERING]

When the Civil Rights movement began, there were certain citizens around at that time saying that Black people had no right.

SPEAKER: Aye!

ORA LEE PATTERSON: That they should be discriminated against in the same particular areas. It was a long, hard fight during the '60s. And you're going through it right now and you're going to lick this thing.

[CHEERING]

SPEAKER: Yeah, all right!

ORA LEE PATTERSON: Now, what do we have here today? Some may claim that it's a different thing, but I contend that it is not. It's exactly the same thing. We will deny the rights of a certain percentage of our population. This is not a moral issue, but indeed a civil rights issue.

[CHEERING]

As a Black person that has been involved in the civil rights movement, I will not be party to any groups that would try to deny the rights of some individuals.

SPEAKER: All right!

ORA LEE PATTERSON: Gay people today are fighting for the same kind of fundamental human rights that minority people have sought-- the right to hold a job, a decent place to live and be treated equally under the law. That's all were asking.

[CHEERING]

If we don't speak out now, if we don't work to protect the rights of all of our fellow citizens, we will be as guilty as those who would suppress those rights. For to stand by and do nothing is to endorse discrimination.

SPEAKER: Yeah. Yeah.

ORA LEE PATTERSON: And if we don't speak out now to protect the rights of our fellow citizens, you can be sure we will pay the price of complacency in the future. For once we began to allow any vocal prejudiced group, such as the one at the Civic Center tonight--

[LAUGHTER]

--we will open the door to the erosion of everyone's civil rights.

SPEAKER: Right on. Right on.

ORA LEE PATTERSON: As Councilwoman Ruby Hunt said, and I quote, "The eyes of the nation will focus on Saint Paul. Let this be the place where the challenge to human rights was met and overcome."

[CHEERING]

All right. V for victory.

SPEAKER: Yeah. Yeah!

ORA LEE PATTERSON: Ladies and gentlemen, you are the decent people of Saint Paul.

[CHEERING]

DAN OLSON: Ora Lee Patterson, director of the Saint Paul Human Relations Council. There was a hint of rain as the rally of repeal opponents continued on the Capitol steps in Saint Paul. But there were a number of speakers waiting, including Allan Spear, a state legislator from Minneapolis.

[CHEERING]

ALLAN SPEAR: But a few years ago, we wouldn't have had a crowd like this. A few years ago, we wouldn't have had the political people out here to speak. A few years ago, gay rights would have been considered a far out, politically suicidal issue. It would have been considered the sort of thing that only the commie pinkos would be interested in.

But today, today we're here. We're here to stand up and to say that we're not the ones that are subversive of the American tradition. We're the ones that stand squarely in the American tradition of equal opportunity on the basis of individual capability.

[CHEERING]

And it's our opposition who would deny equal rights to all people, who are subversive to the fundamental precepts of the American tradition of freedom. So we really have made progress in the last few years. But as Martin Luther King used to say, we've come a long way, but we've got a long, long way to go.

[APPLAUSE]

And as [INAUDIBLE] has just pointed out, what we face today is a crisis in human rights in this country. For all human rights are under challenged today as never before in the past two decades. It's ironic that at a time when there's so much concern for human rights abroad, that human rights at home are under attack.

CROWD: Yeah.

ALLAN SPEAR: And sometimes I get the impression from some people in this country that human rights are more precious the farther away they are.

[LAUGHS]

It's not just our rights as gay people that are now under attack. Women's rights are being challenged. Black rights are being challenged. Indian tribal rights are under attack.

And of course-- and of course, since the Dade County referendum of a year ago, the gains of gay people have been under question by those who would distort the issue, who would use scare tactics to try to re-impose the climate of fear and intimidation, which we have just begun to change. So don't fool yourself for one minute that we're just talking tonight about the rights of gay people. We're talking about human rights, about all people's rights.

[CHEERING]

And those rights, those rights are integrally united.

DAN OLSON: Allan Spear, state senator from Minneapolis. The repeal supporters at the Civic Center were listening mainly to church leaders, and their rally was organized to a considerable degree with the assistance of local churches. The Capitol rally of repeal opponents had fewer speakers who were clergy, but one who did speak was the Reverend Marvin Grunke of Lutheran Social Services in Minneapolis.

MARVIN GRUNKE: We can quote scripture too.

[CHEERING]

The ancient prophet Micah declared long ago, "He hath showed thee o man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God." It is out of that great religious tradition that so many of our church leaders have spoken to our citizens at this critical time in our city. They have spoken carefully for they fully realize that the questions raised by sexual differences are indeed difficult ones.

But our religious leaders have spoken out clearly because they, too, know how easily fear and misunderstanding and irrationality can take over. Make no mistake about it, as one of them has written, the issue is one of civil rights and the recognition that the denial of civil rights of gays is rooted in prejudice, quite apart from the Christian belief in the inestimable value of every person.

[CHEERING]

At stake, our basic human rights, which are to be guaranteed to every person without prejudice. To forget that is to set the conditions once again out of which the Holocaust comes.

[APPLAUSE]

As Wayne Clymer, resident bishop of the United Methodist Church, warns, it is an exceedingly dangerous procedure to deny the civil rights of persons on the grounds that we disapprove of their manners. This is not only a violation of democracy, it is an affront to the Christian respect of persons.

[CHEERING]

DAN OLSON: The Reverend Marvin Grunke of Lutheran Social Services in Minneapolis. The temperature continued to drop outside the capital. But the brightly-lit Capitol steps were serving as an adequate stage, and one speaker remained.

He was a spokesman for the group Parents of Gays. His name, Joe Weiler. He talked about the questions that parents face when they learn their children are gay.

JOE WEILER: There's a principle, which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument and which cannot fail to keep us in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation. This quotation served me well last October when my son came to me and told me he was gay. I asked myself, where did I go wrong? What can I do to fix him?

[LAUGHTER]

But before I did or said anything, I tried to find out as much as I could about gayness.

[CHEERING]

My son asked me to go to a concerned persons group at Christopher Street.

[CHEERING]

The first time we went, my wife and I were really uptight, let me tell you. We expected to encounter all kinds of spooky people.

[LAUGHS]

Instead, we found friends. We learned of books we could read, we heard of organizations we could look into, and we got help in replacing our fears with understanding.

[CHEERING]

Since then, we have made many new friends and we've enjoyed some mature and responsible activities in human rights campaigns. Without these experiences and friends, I think I'd still be working through some pretty rough personal bigotry. And I'd probably be immersed in self pity and guilt.

These experiences have also helped me to rethink a lot of personal and groundless prejudices. And they have helped my wife and I to get out of our apathy closet. Vote no to bigotry.

[CHEERING]

Vote no to discrimination.

[CHEERING]

CROWD: (CHANTING) Vote no. Vote no. Vote no. Vote no. Vote no.

Vote no. Vote no. Vote no. Vote no.

Vote no. Vote no. Vote no.

DAN OLSON: When the rally on the Capitol steps ended last night, only a few went to the Civic Center theater, where the group that had split from the other repeal opponents was meeting. The Civic Center theater meeting was organized primarily by Bob Kunst of Dade County, Florida. He led the opposition to Anita Bryant and her supporters in their drive to repeal the gay rights ordinance there.

The gathering was billed as a casino night at the theater, and it was a fundraiser. The 200 or so people who paid the price of admission danced on the stage of the old Civic Center theater to disco. In the lobby, people were soliciting donations to help pay for advertising to oppose the repeal effort.

[? NANCY MILLIGAN: ?] My name is Nancy [? Milligan. ?] The 45 is Hurricane Anita, and the bumper stickers were--

DAN OLSON: What do the bumper stickers say?

[? NANCY MILLIGAN: ?] The bumper stickers, if you've got it, flaunt it. Better blatant than latent. No more orange juice from the Unshine State. And 92,000 in me are free.

DAN OLSON: What does that mean, that last one?

[? NANCY MILLIGAN: ?] The 92,000 was from Dade County.

DAN OLSON: Very good. How are donations going tonight?

[? NANCY MILLIGAN: ?] Great. Absolutely great.

DAN OLSON: And here we have a number of buttons. I've seen the orange one before, but we have Repeal Rosalie, Burke's better. That's for Tom Burke, of course.

[? NANCY MILLIGAN: ?] Right.

DAN OLSON: We have some T-shirts. What are they saying?

[? NANCY MILLIGAN: ?] Well, we have one beige T-shirt that says Hurricane Anita. And we have another one that says, a day without human rights is like a day without sunshine. And we have that in white and orange.

[LYNN FRIZZELL, "HURRICANE ANITA"] Thanks to the Citrus Queen, I'd rather eat a tangerine.

She's the one preaching hate Welcome to the Sunshine State Hurricane Anita, the season's first bad storm Hurricane Anita, destruction is not known

Thanks to the Citrus Queen, Leviticus 2013 I will not go to hell Heaven knows she isn't well Hurricane Anita

DAN OLSON: "Hurricane Anita" performed by Lynn Frizzell. It was one of the items on sale in an effort to raise funds at the Civic Center Theater. There were no scheduled speeches at the casino night rally, but the organizer, Bob Kunst, moved to the podium.

The opportunity for press coverage was obvious. At all three gatherings at the Capitol, the arena and the theater, reporters were bumping into each other, sometimes surrounding a person to get something for print, something for sound or picture. An NBC television network crew was at all the events and Kunst seized the opportunity.

BOB KUNST: It's so unbelievably naive for anyone to assume that this is a local issue. Besides Pastor Chapman, who is Anita Bryant's pastor, coming in here to bring in Angwin, Reverend Angwin to start this whole mess locally. And Angwin is from Wichita, Kansas, which is also going to have an ordinance. And Chapman is now in Seattle, Washington, stirring up the fuel there because they're going to have an ordinance election and Eugene, Oregon.

And then there's Senator Briggs from California trying to do a whole number throughout the state against gay teachers. And then there's all sorts of rumblings in Washington, DC and New York City. The point is that the Anita Bryant witch hunt is so smacking of the same neo-Nazi mentality that has been really running rampant for a long period of time and are never able to get itself together until they could find one common ground, which somehow or another puts liberals, and conservatives, and Blacks, and KKK and everybody else who you least expect to be in the same bedroom, in the same bedroom. Because when you're dealing with same-sex relationship, you're getting into a coalition concept that nobody could possibly have imagined before.

It used to be that in Nazi Germany, you could get the whole world against the Jews. And now it's the whole world against the gays. It's really simple. Because there's so much intensity and so much negativity associated to same-sex relationships, which means very definitely that the conditioning that we have all been subjected to is not just against same sex, it's against relationships with the other sex, against different religions, different lifestyles, different incomes, different this and that.

We have the same brainwashing consistently thrown at us as not to be attached to our own selves, not to be attached to same sex, not to be attached to the other sex. Just feel self-alienated and self-destructive. And that's what we are going through right next door here. That's the issue at stake here.

For anybody to assume on April 25 that people are voting strictly on human rights, forget it. That's not the issue. People are going into that voting booth. They're going to deal with their gut root feelings and they'll sacrifice their kids, they'll exploit God, they'll do everything in the process but admit the fact that they cannot handle themselves, let alone same sex or other sex. And that's the whole issue here.

[CHEERING]

DAN OLSON: That was rally organizer Bob Kunst. He is a supporter of the Saint Paul gay rights ordinance. Both sides are claiming they will win next Tuesday in Saint Paul. The show of strength last night gives the edge to the supporters of repealing the ordinance, but their rally was highly organized and no doubt designed to give the impression of strength.

While there was no violence last night, the hatred was obvious. One man looking for the Anita Bryant rally asked a policeman where the meeting for non queers was. Robert Green referred to the gays as sorrows. The gays referred to the repeal proponents as bigots and homophobes.

About a year ago, Anita Bryant appeared in Saint Paul, and at a press conference, a gay rights supporter threw a pie in her face. He said later it was an attempt to inject some humor into what was becoming a vicious debate. There was little humor in Saint Paul last night at the three rallies.

The vote tally in Saint Paul next week is being viewed by some as a poll that will show the direction of political thought in this country. The reporters for this program were Kate Williams, Pat Kessler and Dan Olson. The technical director was Tom Keith. This is Dan Olson speaking.