(Into the Light Walk) He Walks For YOU!

by Alan Bounville

Though I’ve been posting videos, some photos and text posts over the past few months, one thing I haven’t done is a photo and caption post like I have periodically been doing. So, here we go – photos and captions documenting the past few months of the Into the Light Walk.

For more photos that others have uploaded, please go to the walk’s Facebook photo page: https://www.facebook.com/IntoLightWalk?sk=photos. There are lots of photos there as well.
PS Some of these photos are not in chronological order. Between my computer crashing and a glitch uploading photos to the website, it has been a challenge to get back online to do a post like this.

South of Declo, ID, on a dirt road, Equality Cart got tired and fell over! The wheel came off. It was an easy fix.

REFORMED: Neo-Nazi Loses Racist Beliefs—and Tattoos!

Bryon Widner, once one of America's most notorious white supremacists, turned his back on racism—but still had a face covered in racist tattoos. Shunned by society and unable to find work, Widner says he became so desperate he considered dousing his face in acid to remove them. Instead, Widner and his wife turned to a former sworn enemy: the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization that tracks hate groups and aggressively works to shut them down. After determining that the skinhead gang founder's change of heart was genuine, the SPLC found a donor willing to foot the approximately $35,000 bill for tattoo removal. Extensive facial tattoos are rare and it took almost a year to find the right doctors.

Widner—who had been forced to flee his native Michigan after receiving death threats from his former comrades and finding pig manure on his cars—underwent a total of 25 surgeries to remove the tattoos from his face, neck, and hands. The pain was so agonizing he had to be put under general anesthetic for every operation; he emerged from each one with burns and oozing blisters. Widner is in the process of inking over extremist tattoos elsewhere on his body. He has built a new life with his wife and young son, but still suffers migraine headaches and has to stay out of the sun. "It's a small price to pay for being human," he tells the AP

G-BOMB: Karl Rove, Anti-Gay Congressman Glitter-Bombed at Minnesota Conference!

There's a great debate to be had over the ethics and efficacy of glitter-bombing. But what bothers me about the latest glitzing is that it appears to have missed its mark, Karl Rove, as he signed books at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's conference in Minnesota. Maybe I'm wrong, but by the end he looks disappointingly not glittery.

A separate bombing of Congressman Erik Paulsen, as he accepted the Friend of the Family award for his efforts to put an amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state constitution, seems to have hit the target - but it's hard to tell.
Here's the bombers' press release.

SHOWDOWN: NYPD Gets Violent with Protesters at 'Occupy Wall Street!

Hours of peaceful Occupy Wall Street protests in which demonstrators were joined by many members of labor unions became violent and chaotic last night as dozens of arrests were made.

A video has emerged showing police wielding batons and contacting solidly with human flesh. It was shot last night at the corner of Broadway and Wall street around 8:45 according to the videographer.

FOX5 says the melee in the video was spawned by protesters pushing into police barriers.

BOO: Michele Bachmann Spooked by Gay Protesters at Iowa Pumpkin Farm!

Michele Bachmann attended a fundraiser thrown by Iowa's leading anti-gay group The Family Leader at a pumpkin farm in Iowa last night, but canceled her scheduled speech outside the barn because of 60 protesters that had shown up from Iowa's Grinnell College, CBS News reports: The students joined the crowd in the barn waiting for Bachmann to speak, while the lawmaker's staff huddled, apparently concerned about the protestors, who carried signs saying, "Have my gaybies" and "My body, my choice" and "Female Gay Student 99%, where's my future?" The police arrived and cordoned off an area outside the barn where the Grinnell students were made to stand.

An hour and a half after the event was scheduled to begin, Bachmann came out of the nearby house, took a quick tour of the farm, fed some goats and fielded a couple questions from reporters about why her speech was canceled. She said the event was supposed to be private and that she wanted to be able to talk with the people who had paid to be part of the $25-a-head fundraiser. 

Bachmann then walked to a van, waving to the students as some of them yelled to her.

EAT IT: 'Occupy' Protesters to Dress as Zombies!

Halloween is coming early for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. In what can only be described as a brilliant move that will help them be taken seriously, organizers are urging protesters to dress up like corporate zombies and eat Monopoly money, so that Wall Street denizens can “see us reflecting the metaphor of their actions,” a spokesman tells the AP.

The organizers have set up a table covered with makeup and fake money to help protesters take part. “It’s a cheeky and fun way to make the same point we’ve been making,” said one woman wearing the facepaint. She said she had quit her job to join the protesters, and would stay “as long as it seems useful.” The protests, which one participant says were “chaos” two weeks ago, are now increasingly organized, with a daily “general assembly,” and protocols for everything from medical care to legal help for those arrested. Protesters have even created their own newspaper, the "Occupied Wall Street Journal."

NOT SILENT: Wall Street Protesters Refuse to Fade!

The spirits of Wall Street protesters are apparently riding high despite yesterday's 700 arrests, the AP reports. Still camped out in New York's Financial District after more than two weeks, they're running laptops on a portable generator, eating donated food, and using a makeshift hospital. They even have their own newspaper: the Occupied Wall Street Journal. Officials "thought we were going to leave and we haven't left," says one protester. "

We're going to stay as long as we can." New York City police say they have released most of the people detained yesterday. But the mass arrest did spark one disagreement: Some protesters say cops told them to use the pedestrian walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge, then arrested them for it. Today the NYPD supported their argument by releasing a video that shows an official warning the crowd with a bullhorn while they chanted, "Take the bridge." Meanwhile, the protest has sparked demonstrations across the nation, from Boston to Los Angeles.

REBEL: Arrests made at Moscow Gay Rally!

The AP has released video from the scene. Is that an anti-gay counter-protester making the Hitler salute?

BOILER: Wall Street Protest Snarls Brooklyn Bridge; 700 Arrested!

(AP) – New York City police say about 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested after they swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours. Police say some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway. The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said. The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan's Financial District for nearly two weeks staging marches to protest corporate greed, global warming, and social inequality, among other grievances. 

"We were supposed to go up the pedestrian roadway," Robert Cammiso, a 48-year-old student from Brooklyn told the Daily News. "There was a huge funnel, a bottleneck, and we couldn't fit. People jumped from the walkway onto the roadway. We thought the roadway was open to us." Several videos taken of the event show a confusing, chaotic scene. Some show protesters screaming obscenities at police and taking a hat from one of the officers. Others show police struggling with people who refuse to get up. Nearby, a couple posed for wedding pictures on the bridge.

DETERMINED: Gaga Attends Obama Fundraiser in Silicon Valley, Questions President About Anti-Bullying!

Days after vowing she would meet with the President over the bullying suicide of Jamey Rodemeyer, Lady Gaga paid to attend a $35,800 per couple fundraiser at the home of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg last night, according to a White House press pool report: At 8pm pool was brought through the house, where Poker Face by Lady Gaga was playing, and into a white party tent set up in the back of the house. There were 7 large round tables – three on each side and one square in the middle in front of a small open space with an American and California state flag set up, where President Obama spoke.

At 8:03 pm Lady Gaga entered… delicately walking on sky-high heels (she towered over everyone, a good 2 feet taller than POTUS). She was wearing a floor-length sleeveless lacey black dress, her blonde hair was gathered in a bouffant up-do adorned with a black hair piece with a black veil down the back, which she swept to the side and in front of her left shoulder. (The hair added about 6 inches to her stature). She took a seat at the middle table in the tent and stood up with the other guests when POTUS entered a few minutes later.

STINGED: Police Corral, Mace Women as NYC Financial Protests Escalate!

This weekend, Wall Street protesters embarked on what the NYT calls their "largest and most ambitious" march since protests of the financial system began on September 17, and it appears police are losing their patience with the demonstrators. 

One video in particular is getting a lot of attention right now: “A cop in a white shirt — I think he’s a superior officer — just comes along and does these quick little spritzes of pepper spray in my and these three other girls’ eyes,” she added. The officer’s identity was not provided by the police.

PROTEST: 80 Busted in 'Occupy Wall St.'!

The NYPD was busily busting protesters yesterday, notching at least 80 arrests on the seventh day of protests known as "Occupy Wall Street," reports the Wall Street Journal. "On our march from Union Square the cops proceeded to use nets to round up people," said one 24-year-old protester. "They split the group into two. As far as I understood, they arrested everyone in the nets." The group is railing against the nation's big banks and so-called "top 1%," and appear to be driven largely via Twitter and other social media. 

Cops initially said they wouldn't arrest the protesters, who lack a permit, but that sentiment appears to be on the wane. "There's a lot of speculation that the police are going to throw us out," said one protester. Hundreds gathered last night in Lower Manhattan, asking passers-by to sign a petition to support "the rights of Americans to assemble and practice their rights to free speech and thought."

SLAYER: Bristol Palin's Heckler Speaks Out!

TMZ caught up with the Stephen Hanks, the L.A. consultant caught on video heckling Bristol Palin at Saddle Ranch bar in West Hollywood. He says he has no regrets about what he said: "The way she said 'homosexual'...She's a racist homophobe in my opinion...Her mother's a media whore and a money-grubbing whore, and a Dominionist who is evil and dangerous for this country...I think we all go to that line every day. Sometimes we stand behind the line and sometimes we cross it..."

SACRIFICE: Flash Mob Targets Michele Bachmann with 'Like a Prayer'!

Activists from the Courage Campaign objected to Michele Bachmann's presence at a California GOP convention yesterday by breaking out in a coordinated dance to "Like a Prayer." If only Marcus were up front, leading the pack, twirling his boa... Boa scarf.

LIBERATED: Pioneering Gay Rights Activist Arthur Evans Dies

Pioneering gay rights activist and longtime resident of San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood Arthur Evans died on Sunday of a heart attack at the age of 68, as the result of an aortic aneurysm discovered last year, the Bay-Citizen reports.

From the Bay Area Reporter's obituary: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mr. Evans played a pivotal role in the newly emergent gay liberation movement in New York City. A few weeks after the famous Stonewall Riot of June 1969 (which he missed), Evans and his lover, Arthur Bell, joined the Gay Liberation Front, a new group that proudly proclaimed itself to be gay, countercultural, and revolutionary. Within GLF, Mr. Evans and others created a cell called the Radical Study Group to examine the historical roots of sexism and homophobia. Many of the participants later became published authors, including, besides Mr. Evans and Bell, John Lauritsen, Larry Mitchell, and Steve Dansky.

BATTLEGROUND: Prop 8 Supporters, Opponents Face Off Before Yesterday's Hearing!

THA BOMB: Activists Glitter-Bomb Anti-Gay MN Fair Booth From the Skies!

(Into the Light Walk) Three Idaho Walkers and the First 1,000 Miles!

by Alan Bounville

We would like to thank all the people I met during the first 1,000 miles, including OUTview's Nikki Lee Taylor and Lincoln Rose. 

SPLASHED: Daryl Hannah Arrested at White House Oil Protest!

Daryl Hannah (who once dated JFK, Jr) was arrested today during a protest against a proposed new oil pipeline. Seated on a sidewalk in front of the White House, the actress refused to move despite US Park Police orders, the AP reports. She had been participating in a sit-in against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast, through six states. It's not the first time Hannah has been arrested for an environmental cause.

OUTRAGE: Mitt Romney Gets Heckled at Iowa State Fair!

Mitt Romney was heckled after defending corporate rights on the campaign trail at the Iowa State Fair Thursday, TPM reports: Responding to a question from an audience member as to why Social Security should be included in deficit talks when it doesn't add to the deficit, Romney drifted into a defense of corporate rights.

"Corporations are people, my friend," he said. "Of course they are." After receiving jeers from the audience over the quote, he elaborated: "Everything corporations earn goes to people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend." 

Romney also raised his voice at another heckler, "If you don’t like my answer, you can go vote for someone else."