Pope protest II
Sep. 18th, 2010 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sebastienneSo in the end I went with this placard. It's probably a postmodern comment on the inappropriateness of the placard for the expression of subtle & nuanced views. Or something.
Of course, someone else managed to say it in five words.
Police say 10,000 protesters, organisers say 20,000; so I'm going to guess that there were about 15,000. Which is pretty creditable, I have to say. And it was, for the most part, quiet and respectful; a few staggeringly offensive or plain point-missing placards, but I didn't notice any chanting that really squicked me. The speakers at the rally (including Dawkins) had an irritating habit of talking about paedophile priests "buggering boys" which a) erases the experience of female abuse victims and b) propogates the whole "paedophile = gay" meme, so I slipped away from that before the end. But, in the end, it felt like one of the most productive & on-message mass protests I've ever been involved in. Perhaps it was the weather..
Of course, someone else managed to say it in five words.
Police say 10,000 protesters, organisers say 20,000; so I'm going to guess that there were about 15,000. Which is pretty creditable, I have to say. And it was, for the most part, quiet and respectful; a few staggeringly offensive or plain point-missing placards, but I didn't notice any chanting that really squicked me. The speakers at the rally (including Dawkins) had an irritating habit of talking about paedophile priests "buggering boys" which a) erases the experience of female abuse victims and b) propogates the whole "paedophile = gay" meme, so I slipped away from that before the end. But, in the end, it felt like one of the most productive & on-message mass protests I've ever been involved in. Perhaps it was the weather..