This is video that my daughter captured on Tuesday outside of the Assembly meeting that was discussing the so called "gay ordinance".
I did not attend last night's meeting so that we could work on this and get it up this morning.
So the question that has been bothering me since the FIRST Assembly meeting concerning this ordinance on June 9th, is WHY did all of these people come to Anchorage from the Valley to argue against an ordinance that does not have anything to do with them? And why did Debbie Ossiander, the Assembly Chair, allow them to testify and prolong this debate for THREE days?
I apologize for not including my discussion with Jerry Prevo, who seems to be the ringleader of this ocean of red adorned people, but the noise in the lobby was so loud you could not hear much of what we talked about.
His point in a nutshell is that he does not feel that the gays are being discriminated against and that their lifestyle is "perverted" and should not be given "special" rights. You know, the same rights that he and his cult of followers currently enjoy.
My daughter worked hard on this so let us know what you thought of it. I am sorry for the quality but I had to use YouTube to embed it on Blogger.
Great video. I commend you and your daughter for being able to stomach some of those red shirters at all.
ReplyDeleteThe blues were definitely more fun, that's for sure!
Awesome! Keep up the good work... These clips are very important, especially for those of us who could not attend.
ReplyDeleteGreat Video Gryphen congrats to you and Daughter!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amy, the reds are a sour bunch, the blues having fun. I also wonder why they allowed people that were not from Anchorage to speak?
Everyone in Alaska needs to tell the IRS that Jerry perverts church is not a church but a PAC and get its 501 (c) revoked!
Again thanks to both of you for the video!
Daughter Gryphen is very talented. This was a great video. From Fairbanks- I'm so happy to see this action from afar and, frankly, I feel like I'm missing out on a good party =)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Felt like I was there, dancing on the lawn. The "Camisas de rojo" looked a lot like the crowd at the "Fire Dave" protest...confused as to why exactly they're so angry. At least they have the JPBC (Jerry Prevo's Bible Cliffnotes) to refer to.
ReplyDeleteGreat work guys! I see a future in filmaking for you two.
I used to try really hard to be tolerant of christianists. Not any longer--those who tolerate hatred help to perpetuate it. Tell you daughter it's a powerful video, and thank her for me.
ReplyDeleteMidnight
Great video, daughter of Gryphen!
ReplyDeleteI discovered last night that some of the Christanists kids -- the ones in wine-colored shirts -- are not even from Alaska -- & after getting a close-up shot (10x zoom is son nice) of one of their adult leader's shirts, was able to do some research to learn they were kids on a youth mission from Mississippi Avenue Baptist Church of Aurora Colorado. Pics I've identified as including these people have a tag of MABC in my Flickr photostream. They are here June 14-22. I'm trying to find out what church hosts them -- ABT or some other? But here they are -- not even from our state, & waving some of the Alaska Family Council's preprinted signs to advocate for the continuance of discrimination against citizens of a city & state they don't even live in! Will be blogging about this later at Henkimaa, but meanwhile hoping some reader here might have info as to what church is hosting them during their "mission".
Just when I start getting tired and depressed over the whole Palin saga an unexpected reason to smile pops up!!
ReplyDeleteGreat video ...
Thank you Daughter Gryphen!!
(and to you, too, G)
Loved the video but the text was really hard to read. The pop-up text worked well and was easy to read, though. Thanks for the video- it was great to be able to be there even though we couldn't actually be there. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThere is no violation with the IRS, definitely not a PAC concern as this has nothing to do with supporting or opposing a candidate in an election.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/ADMIN/apoc/faqpac.shtml
Great video though, would still really like to see the Prevo interview despite the poor audio quality.
Excellent first YouTube!!!
ReplyDeleteA lot of the Valley people are Russian and Ukrainian emigres, the most quickly expanding demographic group in the Mat-Su Valley.
Great Video. Change the white writing to black. Could not read it.
ReplyDeleteMel,
ReplyDeletemy guess...Mormons, they came in busloads against prop 8 here in cali.
Anon@1:48 but they are preachin' politics, there is supposed to be separation of church and state.
ReplyDeleteIf I was in Alaska I would turn their asses in.
Jerry pervert is very afraid of the IRS taking his exempt status away!
Nice video... especially for the first one.
ReplyDeleteWhat I notived from the 'red shirts ' was that when then were all together in a BIG group they seemed to be willing to almost 'proudly' (in their eyes )to speak about their hate and racism because others were there to cheer them on. Mob Mentality.The shots of the smaller groups had the girls trying to hiding behind their signs and just the body language itself was one of Shame. They were afraid of showing their bigotry.
Gryphen and Daughter, thanks for posting this video for all to share!! All you see from these people, just like the ones in NYC on the Letterman issue, is mad, venimous, hateful, intolerant people. If they could only see that their intolerance for anybody who is not like them is making them angry and frightened. How can you enjoy life when you oppose practically everything. And they are all such liars. I always feel so sad after witnessing such extreme stupidity.
ReplyDeleteGreat video, Gryphen. Surely some of those red-shirted kids secretly wanted to join the party.
ReplyDeleteBlue_in_AK
Gryphen and your lovely daughter...what a pleasure (well you know what I mean) to watch the video. Hugs from Ireland.
ReplyDeleteCrystalwolf,
ReplyDeleteRight, I'm just trying to find a legal basis as the PAC approach is bogus (sorry Shannyn). Does anyone know of an actual law (ref please) that is being broken?
Anon@1:48
LOL
ReplyDeleteThe coverage of this makes me realize I missed a fun time.
I told my husband we are going to miss a good time. A band! OMG, this had to be a blast.
Quyaana.
Good video Gryphen and Gryphen's daughter.
ReplyDeleteListening to them they all seem to be so paranoid and threatened of anyone who doesn't believe as they do, of any "others" have freedoms and rights.
How sad of a world they must live in and what wonderful people that they will never be friends with. Their loss.
crytalwolf -- I strongly doubt the MABC youth mission kids are hosted by Mormons. Mormons are antigay, certainly, but unlikely to be hosting people from MABC which is a Southern Baptist Convention church. Most likely they are hosted by another Baptist church, probably another SBC church. For that reason, I wouldn't even assume they were hosted by Anchorage Baptist Temple, which is an independent (not part of SBC), although that's certainly possible.
ReplyDeleteGryphen's daughter's footage got at least some wine-colored shirt kids who would be MABC youth mission kids; & also caught some of the red-shirt kids getting on buses when they left, but I couldn't tell if any of the wine-colored shirts got on the buses, or whose buses they were. Nothing online to tell me who the hosts are, only that MABC has a youth mission here in Anchorage right now.
Interestingly, a Presbyterian church in Illinois has a youth mission in Anchorage right now too, hosted by Immanuel Presbyterian Church. But those kids, instead of waving signs advocating permitting discrimination, are doing actual service activities -- helping to restore a church in Eagle River, & working with the homeless. Though I guess it's possible the MABC kids do useful things too when they're not called upon to be billboards for their adult leaders' antigay Christianist political activities.
Wow, you and your daughter are now a power duo! Excellent work, very good video, I enjoyed it and I think you made many good points. Your interview skills are excellent G as you were soft spoken but persistent.
ReplyDeleteHowever I have one important criticism which is more than a quibble. The subtitles were a total bust, and they are important because sometimes communicating your overall message depends almost completely on them. Take a cue from old movies where reaching the widest possible audience was key - make them larger, have them on longer and make sure they are easy to read/see. Please don't use fancy ones unless they are really readable, the ones at the end were completely unreadable in this format. The pop-ups were great though, clear and readable.
Also I didn't understand why you had "ignorant majority" in the top left corner - maybe a riff on immoral minority? But that isn't clear at all, and it takes away from the message of the entire clip to have that message hanging about up there.
I think you two can do great things! And your daughter on her own too. All the other thigns she had to think about like lighting, framing, were excellent.
Bless you both, thank you for bringing us to Anchorage outside the Assembly hall!
ReplyDeleteOne very minor suggestion - instead of trying to place text on top of the video, pause the video and insert a screen with just the text... maybe white on black or something with good contrast, larger text, and leave it up long enough to be read. I was able to catch some of the text but lost most of it because it was in a small script-like font on top of a grass background with the camera still in motion.
Thanks for the great effort and for sharing this with us!
Anon@1:48
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it would be in the IRS for tax exempt status! I saw a Rant from ole jerr the other day that he didn't want gov't messin' with his church status, so even he knows he's pushing the envelope here.
Enjoyed this video especially from a sociological perspective. It speaks volumes because it captures the value systems of both sides - one of outward thinking, tolerance and peace and the other inward thinking, intolerance and hate. Thank you for the insight. You have given me visual confirmation of what happens to groups of people when they are indoctrinated with hate.
ReplyDeleteThe party was definitely on the blue side. Most of the red shirts, on the other hand, looked like they could use a good shot of X-Lax!
ReplyDeleteI love the video, but agree with comments above re: readability. I hate having to pause to decipher the vid. commentary (really good, btw). Never use italics if plain font will do! Great job capturing the spirit of the two sides! I wanna party with the rainbow side, for sure.
ReplyDeleteThank you and your talented daughter for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhy would the Assembly allow Wasilla citizens and others from outside Anchorage take up the Assembly's time which should belong to the business of Anchorage and its' citizens? Weird!
The sign about "destroying civil liberties" was especially sad to me. It doesn't destroy one's civil liberties to rent a house to someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. It made me think their fathers held signs that said "When the "Negro Agenda" destroys civil liberties, we all lose!"
ReplyDeleteIf we can discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, why can't we discriminate on the basis of politics or one's taste in music? Or religion? What if people decided they didn't feel like employing Christianists any more because they weren't in line with their values of tolerance?
I agree with other posters that as an Anchorage matter, people outside the municipality did not have standing to testify. But then I don't live in Anchorage either.
Daniel said "It doesn't destroy one's civil liberties to rent a house to someone who makes you feel uncomfortable." What about the people who live across the street. We had a quiet neghborhood until the landlord rented to people who like to cook and socialize (drink) in their front yard. I am as liberal as the next liberal but at this point I could care less about their civil liberties
ReplyDeleteYou have recourse - public intox laws, zoning, etc. Applied equally to all. but where one cooks and where one drinks are choices - being gay isn't. Therefore laws that apply to infringing on others rights (yours to peacefully enjoy your yard) are OK; bans on who others love and form families with, aren't
DeleteAnon@8:46 I suppose you would of felt better if they bought the house right?
ReplyDeleteWould you still be bitching? Your I'm as libral as the next libral says it all, NOT!
Go take a xlax.
crystalwolf aka caligrl "NOOOOOO" I would have felt better if the landlord would not have rented to these trashy people or better yet rented them the house next door to him. Miss Liberal do you have kids. Tell me what you would think if a convicted pediphile moved in next door. How liberal are you then?
ReplyDeletecrystalwolf aka caligrl when did you become such an expert on living in Alaska?
ReplyDeleteThe red shirts are so afraid of everything and they interpret biblical text to suit their needs. Many of them do things behind closed doors that they go to church and seek repentance for on Sundays; but they still do those things. They are repressed by their beliefs but they still act upon their desires, and that makes them hypocrites. Hypocrites are dangerous because they seek to impose their system of rules upon others because spreading the message is a way of assuaging the guilt that they have for acting upon their desires.
ReplyDeleteI don't dislike many people but I do dislike many of the redshirts; especially because they put their children out there speaking out against something that the children have no knowledge of, ie, human sexuality. Those red shirt kids have not a clue regarding what they are protesting, and likely will never have a clue until they get knocked up at 14 because their "religious" parents can't talk to them about sex.
Blech...they leave a bad taste in my mouth.....
Anon@9:39 & 9:44
ReplyDeleteoh mr/ms liberal, they were trashy now? They were Pedephiles now? And you know that how? By judging on your bible... do you????
And living in Alaska, Alaska is SUCH a big place, now I would be worried if I lived in the same town as your govener, yes sir, because she is a freaking monster! Go take your xLax mr. liar! Your a Redshirt lyin' SOB!
And Mr. Smart so, called " Liberal", we in Cali have something called Neighborhood watch and when a convicted sex offender moves in the neighboorhood, "CONVICTED", mind you, not "I think this guy is a pediphile, or trash" We are notified by the police dept.You are just throwing around unfounded judgements on people!!!!And you didn't answer my question, What if they bought the house? Then you couldn't complain about them and call the police on them right? You couldn't harass them until they moved right? Because they owned the house.
AssHat! Go stick your redshirt when the sun don't shine!
Anon @ 9:39, are you comparing people who like to cook and socialize outside to convicted pedophiles? You must be a freakin blast to hang out with, haha.
ReplyDeleteAKpetMom, great post!@10:18pm
ReplyDeleteCey@4:21, LMAO!
And Redshirt AssHat, pedophiles/sex offenders have to live somewhere! You are a NIMBY!
ReplyDeleteYeah go take your xLax for your judgemental azz!
Hey people, its summer go out on your front lawn and BBQ and have a beer, have fun! Don't worry about the asshat's peeking through the blind's!
Hey crystalwolf must be nice living in the burbs or the hillside whatever you call it down in California. Your husband probably has a good job so you can afford to do that. Up here its called houswives who husbands work for Alyeska. It's very easy to be a liberal when you isolate yourself from real life. I bet you drive to a soup kitchen and help out and feel good about yourself, but hey just don't let those homeless camp behind my house. Yes and the pedophiles do have to live somehere as long as it's not next door to you. And you do know all it takes to find out if the person next door to you is a sex offender is a look online.
ReplyDeleteMy last question to you is have you ever lived in Alaska and I don't mean Anchorage? Anchorage is not the real Alaska.
Hey there, anon@9:09 A.M. who wrote "It's very easy to be a liberal when you isolate yourself from real life. "
ReplyDeleteNo. It's non-progressives who are in isolation, and from your own description ("Anchorage is not the real Alaska"), you are living in isolation, too.
Only 21% of Americans self-identify as GOP members now. Progressives are not the ones who are increasingly "isolated."
Anon@9:09My, my, my, NIMyism in Aleyska aren't we special???? Well Redshirt, You don't work but hubby swings the hammer, I guess you stay home popping kids out like octomom for those PDF's...lol!
ReplyDeleteNo I don't live in the burb's but I think you wish you did! Your sitting up there in Alyska collecting your 10 PDF's check every year, you betcha!
We know Aleyska has the highest federal funding of all the states and guess who pays that.... us in the lower 48, LEECH!
WTF do you care where I live or if I live in Alaska, REAL Alaska, you sTalker!!!!
Anon@9:09 why don't stop being anon? Chickenshit. I thought so.
ReplyDeleteDoes he go to Work in Aleyaska 2 wks on and off? Hear lots of stories 'bout what goes on up there.
Lots of hard workin' girls. LOL!
Keep popping out the kids for the PDF check. While your man swings something and it ain't a hammer! wink,wink!
Have a nice day :)
haha touched a nerve there crystalwolf. This is coming from a state that is asking for handouts but no one feels sorry for them. I wonder why that is?
ReplyDeleteOkay, funny story about life here in the Mat-Su Valley. My neighbor is 30 years of age. He grew up next door to me and recently purchased his childhood home, next to mine, from his parents after they moved to Texas. He has a a 2 year old child with his partner who is 25. They have an interesting group of friends; they like to party, but always try to keep it as quiet as possible. They like to get high and they tend to have a few beers. The couple are short on cash at the moment and have some friends staying with them. One of the friends has parked a motorhome on the property on the other side of my fenceline. It's an old motorhome that has to be covered with a blue tarp to keep the roof from leaking. The other friend has rented a room inside the house.
ReplyDeleteSuffice it to say, they are all nice people. Sure, they like to smoke a bowl every now and then and sit around the campfire drinking. Hell, hubby and I sometimes join them in their revelry. Neighbor keeps apologizing about the blue tarp pickup camper squatting on his property, but hey, we each have 2 acres and it's mostly wooded and summer growth hides the camper quite nicely from my view.
I guess I'm trying to say that I left Anchorage in 1994 to live a different kind of life here in the Valley, and different it can certainly be. I like my neighbor and we couldn't be more different; hubby and I are kind of hippy greenie people (according to the neighbors!) and the neighbors are "gear heads". But, we all get along and help each other out as need be. I've loaned them money and they've helped to erect my dog fence and replace car parts when something breaks down.
I grew up in a small town in Virginia that was chocked full of rednecks. I guess that's why I feel so at home here in Wasilla. We don't agree with each other on all issues, but hey, we choose not to talk about the things we don't agree about.
in case anyone missed my point, I was trying to put Alaskan life into perspective for those that don't understand why we are the way we are up here and what it means to be, well, at least a "suburban alaskan".
ReplyDeleteAnd as you pointed out, there's more than enough room to be tolerant. You might be a bit less, were you wanting to move and concerned about property values.
Delete