This is a summary of the latest news and information regarding Operation
Save America's upcoming event in Columbus, Ohio, and the organization of an
effective response. For details, go to http://www.theanswerisno.org/.
Upcoming Event
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* NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio will be holding their Columbus Area Choice Action
Team Meeting on Tuesday, June 15, 7:00 pm, at the Main Branch of the
Columbus Public Library.
Latest News
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* Leaders of Minutemen United, a Central Ohio group that is sympathetic to
Operation Save America and is actively working to prepare for this summer's
event, have said in an e-mail message to their supporters on May 20 that
they are contacting 400 Ohio churches and appealing to them for help and
logistical assistance, including housing, transporation and food.
* J. Patrick Johnston, an associate of Minutemen United who says he's
"serving" Operation Save America leader Flip Benham, told us during a brief
interview in early May that OSA will obtain a permit to parade through
German Village. They've targeted German Village, according to Johnston,
because it has a "the reputation of being a place where a certain class of
sinners reside," that it is "the neighborhood that is known throughout the
town for having a lot of homosexual couples residing there." The video and
transcript of this interview are now on our website.
Recent parades organized by Operation Save America / Operation Rescue in
Wichita, Kansas, have been extremely disruptive to neighborhood residents
and businesses. OSA has claimed that a parade permit gives them "control of
the street" and they have deliberately used these parades as an attempt to
block access to entire streets in front of particular businesses that they
seek to eliminate.
* Mike Doughney and Lauren Sabina Kneisly, the "oppositional researchers"
who created theanswerisno.org and have studied Operation Save America /
Operation Rescue for a number of years, have moved to Columbus for the
summer and are available to speak to your organization or group in the Ohio
region. Contact us for details.
* The downloads page has been updated with the latest fliers and posters.
News Media Coverage
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There have been two recent newspaper articles about the upcoming OR/OSA
event: one from The Other Paper from late May, and another from the Columbus
Dispatch from this past Monday, June 7. Scans of the articles and our
responses to the editors are up on the website.
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Mike Doughney and Lauren Sabina Kneisly
Answering Operation Save America in Columbus, Ohio - July 2004
http://www.theanswerisno.org