I'd known for a while that some white supremacists/alt-right people were having a "straight pride" march in Boston today, but didn't know what if any counter-protests were planned.
This morning,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
adrian_turtle texted me at about 8:30 this morning, and said that she was considering going into Boston. I asked why, she described a pair of counter-protests--one at City Hall Plaza before the fascists were expected, and a more confrontational one at the Public Garden, intended to be there while the bad guys marched past. We talked a little, she said she was going to the first protest; I showered, took my morning meds (and an NSAID) and decided to go downtown.
We met at Harvard T station and went to City Hall Plaza, getting there part-way through the event. There were speeches and music and even some dancing. Adrian and I left shortly before noon, and stopped at Caffe Nero for a cup of tea and to use their bathroom. While we were there,cattitude texted to tell me he was going to the more in-their-face event, and Adrian and I decided to walk back to the Common and try to join him.
Adrian and I were going to stand back from the police barricades when the fascists walked past. Then they turned the corner onto Tremont Street, and I saw that some of them were waving Israeli flags. That upset me enough that I moved forward to the edge of the sidewalk and started shouting "Nazis out!" loudly. (I am fairly sure that I was photographed by both reporters and at least one of the right-wing marchers.)
When that was over (five minutes or so?) Adrian and I went home, and Cattitude headed up Tremont Street toward City Hall Plaza to shout at the right-wingers some more.
Sign I liked, held by someone in front of a church on Tremont Street: "We're Allies, not Axis" (with the X as a crossed-out swastika).
Moment that surprised me: we were listening to a speaker at City Hall Plaza, saying radical things I agreed with, and lots of us were cheering. Then she said something and my immediate reaction was a clenched fist in the air. (I wish I remembered what exactly prompted that.)
This morning,
adrian_turtle texted me at about 8:30 this morning, and said that she was considering going into Boston. I asked why, she described a pair of counter-protests--one at City Hall Plaza before the fascists were expected, and a more confrontational one at the Public Garden, intended to be there while the bad guys marched past. We talked a little, she said she was going to the first protest; I showered, took my morning meds (and an NSAID) and decided to go downtown.We met at Harvard T station and went to City Hall Plaza, getting there part-way through the event. There were speeches and music and even some dancing. Adrian and I left shortly before noon, and stopped at Caffe Nero for a cup of tea and to use their bathroom. While we were there,
cattitude texted to tell me he was going to the more in-their-face event, and Adrian and I decided to walk back to the Common and try to join him.Adrian and I were going to stand back from the police barricades when the fascists walked past. Then they turned the corner onto Tremont Street, and I saw that some of them were waving Israeli flags. That upset me enough that I moved forward to the edge of the sidewalk and started shouting "Nazis out!" loudly. (I am fairly sure that I was photographed by both reporters and at least one of the right-wing marchers.)
When that was over (five minutes or so?) Adrian and I went home, and Cattitude headed up Tremont Street toward City Hall Plaza to shout at the right-wingers some more.
Sign I liked, held by someone in front of a church on Tremont Street: "We're Allies, not Axis" (with the X as a crossed-out swastika).
Moment that surprised me: we were listening to a speaker at City Hall Plaza, saying radical things I agreed with, and lots of us were cheering. Then she said something and my immediate reaction was a clenched fist in the air. (I wish I remembered what exactly prompted that.)
Tags: