On Easter, onThesource.com a Sermon of Rebirth, and a Rally for Rights

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(Free-Press-Release.com) April 25, 2011 -- Under a suddenly sun-drenched sky on Fifth Avenue, the festivities were a bit more free-flowing: flowers bloomed on the bonnets of children and sprouted from the ears of Chihuahuas, as marchers who finished the annual Easter Day parade in front of the church mingled with a band of protesters with signs.

This small group of about 25 people stood while temperatures soared near 80 degrees, holding white placards bearing the pictures of eight members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community who had recently committed suicide. They were demonstrating against a recent spate of hate crimes and against the Roman Catholic Church’s position on same-sex marriage.

“We’re not here as an aggressive protest,” said Scott Wooledge, 44, of Brooklyn Heights. “We’re here to reach out to people to make them understand that homophobia kills.”

Dan Choi, a former lieutenant with the New York Army National Guard who was discharged under the now-repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” law after announcing on national television that he is gay, stood somewhat anonymously with the group in a black suit and tie.

“I want to give voice to these people,” he said, pointing to the signs, whose pictures included one of the Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, whose suicide has drawn national attention.

Louis Flores, 38, of Astoria, Queens, organized the civil rights walk by joining two groups — Connecting Rainbows and Queer Rising — that marched in the parade on Fifth Avenue. When the parade dispersed, he shook hands with a police officer from the Midtown North precinct, and they thanked each other for a peaceful two hours.

Ricardo Guzman Erazo, 26, participated in the march after attending Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Astoria, where he said he was handed a flier about the Archdiocese of New York’s opposition to the same-sex marriage bill being considered in Albany.

Mark Lugo, 28, who grew up in a Catholic Puerto Rican family in the Bronx, had attended services at the Episcopal St. Bartholomew’s Church, on Park Avenue. He saw the activists in a circle, planning their route. He took a sign without hesitation, and joined along, walking in his blue suit and tie.

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