(Chapel Hill, North
Carolina) Log Cabin Republicans president Patrick
Guerriero got more than he bargained for when he
stepped up to the podium at UNC-Chapel Hill for a
National Coming Out Day speech.
Guerriero had just
started his address, on the future of sexual
politics, when a man rushed up to the stage and
lobbed a cream pie at him.
The national
spokesperson for gay Republicans swerved and ducked,
but still was spattered with lumps of chocolate
cream pie. Guerriero later attributed his nimbleness
to having played soccer in school.
"I've had a lot of
political rhetoric thrown at me, but that was the
first pie," he said.
Guerriero removed his
jacket and then picked up his speech where he left
off, only to be interrupted again, this time by a
fire alarm.
The building was
evacuated. Guerriero finished up the speech on the
front steps.
"Thankfully this
person wasn't successful in stifling debate,"
Guerriero told 365Gay.com on Wednesday.
Who threw the pie or
pulled the fire alarm is not known. Witnesses say
that the man was wearing dark clothes and a baseball
cap.
Log Cabin has come
under fire from conservatives in the Republican
Party for not endorsing President Bush in 2004 and
for opposing an amendment to the US Constitution
that would ban gay marriage. But, the group is
equally controversial within the LGBT community with
some seeing it as pandering to the GOP.
"We're at a boiling
point in the culture war and people on the far right
and the far left have very intense feelings,"
Guerriero said.
One of the organizers
of the Chapel Hill event said he thought the pie was
thrown by someone who is gay.
©365Gay.com 2005 |
