Home › Forums › Open Discussion › NARAL Barred from Summer Fest
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July 7, 2010 at 1:12 pm #595453
kParticipantWhat happened to freedom of speech?
http://www.publicola.net/2010/07/06/naral-barred-from-west-seattle-summerfest/
July 7, 2010 at 2:00 pm #698484
charlabobParticipantThanks for pointing this out, K.It’s always good to be reminded of the moral courage of our business community.
July 7, 2010 at 2:13 pm #698485
CarsonParticipantK,
I fully support choice and am 100% pro-choice, and maybe more. I am not sure if summer fest is actually a public or private event. You have zero rights to free speech at private events. Zilch. If its a public event, I hope they sue the pants off them. I always drop a few dollars in their jar at the events I see them at.
July 7, 2010 at 3:18 pm #698486
QueMemberIf the ban also affects the creepy anti-choice booth that I always feel like I have to carefully distract my child when walking around it, I might be ok with it. I fully support choice, but it has always felt like an odd out-of-place time for abortion advocacy to me.
July 7, 2010 at 3:25 pm #698487
HelperMonkeyParticipantlast year was like running a gauntlet through pushy religious types and their creepy fetus baby dolls- there were 3 groups all in a row. And they were pushy and weird. It would be nice this year if they were banned as well. They make more people uncomfortable than NARAL.
*edit…would be nice if I read the farking article. looks like the anti-choice groups have been banned this year as well.
July 7, 2010 at 3:47 pm #698488
MargLMemberInteresting – the article also says the ban affected religious organizations but I still see Calvary Chapel West Seattle listed in the online vendor list. So either it’s not updated or it’s ‘select’ religious organizations.
July 7, 2010 at 4:56 pm #698489
JoBParticipantperhpas the operative word there is vendor?
July 7, 2010 at 5:03 pm #698490
dawsonctParticipantQue, I’m sure it is not your intent, and I imagine you probably feel the same way I do, that though I fully and completely support a woman’s right to make her own health-care decisions, I hardly advocate for abortions. As it has been said before, abortions should be legal, safe, and rare.
It’s the conservative philosophy to treat the symptom while ignoring the disease.
—
I apologize for nitpicking, but the bumper-sticker philosophers of the farreich have conflated the private medical decisions between a woman and her doctor with murder for far too long, we don’t need to give them any more ammo.
July 7, 2010 at 7:05 pm #698491
charlabobParticipantJoB, it’s all about vendors — ie, money. :-) Dawson, thank you for farreich — it made my morning. This year the charlabobs are actually physically able to walk around the fest a bit, and I’ll be curious to see how “issues” are dealt with. Maybe a “free speech pen” like they had at a Boston convention a few years ago. A cattle pen for the opinionated. And yeah, that’s where you could find me. >-)
July 7, 2010 at 7:13 pm #698492
HelperMonkeyParticipanthey charla, that’s called the beer garden. and I will join you there. ;)
July 7, 2010 at 7:48 pm #698493
CarsonParticipantMoney has ZERO to do with it. There are dozens of vendors there that are not selling anything. These are just a few I saw at first glance, I am sure there are others that are not there to sell anything directly.
34th District Democrats
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union
Alaska Way Viaduct & Seawall Replacement
BECU
Harbor Properties
One Reel
Penguin Windows
Seattle Lutheran Schools
US Bank
Verizon Wireless
West Coast Vinyl
West Seattle Food Bank
West Seattle Wildlife Habitat Project
July 7, 2010 at 8:06 pm #698494
JoBParticipantCarson…Thanks for the illumination
I am not in support of the Junction Assn’s decision and may choose not to go to the event as a result.
They had a choice.. they could have instituted taste guidelines for all information vendors instead of choosing to bar anything they thought could have become controversial.
If the anti-abortion crowd .. i refuse to call them pro-life … can’t get their point across without shock tactics depicting violence.. they don’t have much of a point to make. I am deeply offended by their tactics.
Banning the pro-life information booth from the fair because of the lack of restraint of the anti-abortion advocates only adds insult to injury.
July 7, 2010 at 8:23 pm #698495
CarsonParticipantJoB, I actually thought the same thing as well. Many of these events take a % of the sales, and for the larger events, they only invite those that “produce” but that is obviously not the case here.
They are not anti abortion, they are anti choice. There is a huge difference.
July 7, 2010 at 9:30 pm #698496
LibertybellParticipantAs a current board member, I assure everyone that the choices made by the Junction Association are to achieve the best festival possible. Decisions are based on past experiences. Once you have a vendor at the festival, it is nearly impossible to control “taste” issues. It is not to limit anyone’s speech, but to make everyone comfortable while attending a family friendly community event.
The Junction Association spends a lot of time and money in putting on the events in the Junction. They could not be achieved without the support of the merchants who paying for them. Hopefully the public can understand that decisions made are thought out and are to establish a pleasant environment for all to enjoy!
July 7, 2010 at 9:44 pm #698497
QueMemberLiberty Bell, I really appreciate the efforts to establish a pleasant environment for all.
As a strong supporter of women’s right to choose and to have autonomy over her body. I also think that the entire abortion debate has no place (from either side of the conversation) at the West Seattle Summer Festival.
July 7, 2010 at 10:02 pm #698498
CarsonParticipantI am way more offended by the over the top, pushy sales tactics of Penquin Windows than I am from either side of the family planning debate..
July 7, 2010 at 10:14 pm #698499
DPMemberLibertybell,
You have a point about how hard it is to define what’s tasteful. But remember, this is Seattle we’re talking about here. Any event that excludes anything that might be controversial doesn’t seem like much of a community event to me. It’s seems more like mini-Disneyland.
I’m for keeping the abortion debate—and other important political debates—out in the open. If we don’t give people a forum in which to express themselves peacefully, they may eventually resort to violence, and this applies equally across the political spectrum.
JoB et al.:
Of course you have a right to be offended by the tactics of the “anti-abortion crowd,” but remember that for them, this is a profound moral issue. If you want to make any headway in a discussion on the issue, you have to start off by conceding that point. Once you’ve done that, you can proceed to make the point that, for you, choice is an equally profound moral issue.
If both sides can agree on that as a starting point, then maybe they can get somewhere.
Otherwise, probably not . . .
–David
July 7, 2010 at 10:44 pm #698500
SueParticipantJust saw this about Mike Heavey asking them to reconsider and that he won’t participate in the event if they don’t: http://tinyurl.com/37vgf4g
July 7, 2010 at 11:22 pm #698501
kParticipantAccording to comments made on the original article posted at this start of this thread, NARAL will be there without an official booth. They will be collecting signatures for upcoming legislation and educating the crowd. Glad to see they will still have a presence.
July 7, 2010 at 11:29 pm #698502
StargaterMemberSue,
Thanks for the heads up on Mike Heavey. That’s one less candidate I have to worry about voting for. The festival will be better with one less pushy candidate there. SHAME ON MR. HEAVY FOR USING A COMMUNITY FESTIVAL TO MAKE A POLITICAL GRANDSTAND!!!
July 7, 2010 at 11:31 pm #698503
dhgParticipantSo Naral goes but Calvary Chapel West Seattle stays? Randy Leskovar, senior pastor of the Church, wrote a doozy of a homophobic letter to the Herald last year. He brought suit against the City of Seattle challenging domestic partner benefits. How is it NARAL can’t set up in the same place as this nutcase?
July 7, 2010 at 11:43 pm #698504
kParticipantgreat point dhg. i wonder how the WSJA would respond to that question.
July 8, 2010 at 12:35 am #698505
Junction AssociationMemberWest Seattle Summer Fest is a long standing festival focused on art, music and community. In past years, the Festival has received strong negative feedback against how the issue of abortion was being presented. In response to this feedback and in consideration of all parties, we have decided that Summer Fest will not be a venue to promote either side of this issue. Contrary to the Publicola article, other non-profits have been accepted into the festival. Our intent is to keep the event enjoyable for all festival goers.
July 8, 2010 at 12:42 am #698506
kParticipanthomophobia is not enjoyable to this festival goer? you are allowing a church who has taken a stance against a large population of west seattle to participate in this event, but not NARAL? what a shame. this just doesn’t make sense. why change after so many years? is there a new member of the association? why are you caving on this issue?
July 8, 2010 at 12:57 am #698507
StargaterMemberK
We are talking different aspects here. I was offended when I saw pro-life people handing pictures of aborted fetuses to children (we are talking 5 & 6 year olds) at past festivals. I confronted them at the time and I will surely confront Calvary if they are being homophobic. I believe that there is NO place for homophobia. But if their association banned everyone who had an opinion or view, there would be an empty street. I do not believe the association is trying to ban free speech, they are respecting the complaints of people like myself, who wish to have a safe place to bring a family. Do you want to explain to a 5 year old what a picture of an aborted fetus is? I know I don’t!
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