Activist Claims Pro-Homosexual Chicago Is Unfairly Prosecuting Him
by Allie Martin
September 29, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Christian activist accused of disrupting the 2006 "Gay Games" in Chicago, Illinois, insists he was arrested while lawfully expressing his pro-traditional marriage viewpoint at the pro-homosexual event. And now, he claims city officials are moving forward with the case against him -- a case he feels should be dismissed.
Earlier this year, Repent America president Michael Marcavage was arrested by Chicago police as he stood on a public sidewalk, holding a sign supporting traditional marriage at the city's 2006 Gay Games. Last month, Marcavage returned to Chicago for a court hearing but learned that the complaining witness did not show up.
Instead of dropping the case, the prosecutor said the case would be pursued based on the testimony of the arresting officer. However, the Christian activist says the arresting officer who appeared at the hearing was not the one who made the arrest.
To Marcavage, it appears the city has a clear agenda. "Chicago is obviously known for its promotion of homosexuality," he says. "We already have a civil case that was filed against the city, and we have uncovered various things in doing investigations about the city, [such as] the mayor's promotion of homosexuality, of course."
The Repent America president says Chicago officials have no regard for free speech as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. "The mayor and the police department were actually instructed to tell people that they needed to leave the area if they were there trying to oppose what was happening," the Christian group's leader asserts.
"And they set up, I believe, what they called free-speech zones, which are obviously unconstitutional," Marcavage points out. "But these free-speech zones are, I think, what these officers were trying to enforce, to keep people away from having an opposing message to the promotion of homosexuality," he says.
In recent months, the Christian leader says he has received an increase in profane and threatening messages from so-called "tolerant" homosexuals and their supporters. And now, he believes the city is demonstrating a similar brand of tolerance for his traditional values viewpoint, and he has doubts about whether the police and other local authorities are interested in seeing that he get a fair trial.
The City of Chicago is pushing forward in the case against him, Marcavage says, even though the primary witness apparently cannot be located. The next hearing in the matter is set for October 4.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
