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Bourbon Street Hate Preachers Arrested for Harassing the Gays at Southern Decadence

Posted by on Sep 3, 2012 in Crime | 7 comments

I was busy with pals on Bourbon Street celebrating the oppressive savanna sun from Disney’s The Lion King finally setting over Louisiana on Friday evening, which marked the passing of my fourth day without electricity when OOPS! Where did my husband, Nicholas “Nancy Drew” Vivion, teen detective just disappear to?

A bit of background for you, it was the kickoff night of New Orleans’ Southern Decadence, the South’s impression of a gay pride weekend. And juuust before Nick vanished, a flying V of hateful “street preachers” had begun marching toward the gay bars, armed with signs that read HOMO SEX in letters so much comically larger than the rest of the text, that it was literally the only thing you could see until they were hovering directly in front of you.

In any case, I eventually discovered my husband busy snapping photos of the loving, Christian men who were screaming homophobic obscenities at the assembled celebrants, preaching the gospel about how victims of Hurricane Katrina deserved to die, and at one point punching a shirtless man. Well, snapping photos and then emailing them to our City Councilmember Kristin Palmer’s office.

You see, harassing the shit out of people on Bourbon Street in the name of God at night is illegal. And sometimes it takes a handsome travel tech reporter to remind the police to do their job.

Councilmember Palmer’s office responded to Nick the next morning, and then ah ah ahhhh, what’s thiiiis?

Nine preachers were arrested Saturday after police said they yelled anti-gay slurs over bullhorns during a demonstration at Southern Decadence, an annual celebration of gay culture in the French Quarter. Patrick O’Connell, 45, Rolando Igleasias, 31, Cesar Chavez, 22, Daniel Hoogerhuis, 26, Danny Guevera, 20, Larry Craft, 52, Montes Diego, 32 and Gary Brown, 33 were arrested on suspicion of aggressive solicitation, a city law passed last October.

The ordinance prohibits “any person or group of persons to loiter or congregate on Bourbon Street for the purpose of disseminating any social, political or religious message between the hours of sunset and sunrise.” Another man, Justin Craft, 31, was arrested on suspicion of battery, resisting an officer and interfering with a law enforcement investigation. Craft allegedly punched an officer when he attempted to confiscate his bullhorn. Witnesses said the incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. outside Tropical Isle.

That’s my man, y’all. Keeping Decadence free of loving Christian hate so you can get your dance, drink, and unruly body hair on.

You go boy.

(via Nola.com)