Gay Festival Foes Blame Each Other

In the aftermath of a brawl between gay activists and fundamentalist Christians, each side Monday blamed the other for marring the county’s first gay pride festival and potentially ruining the chances of having another one in Santa Ana next year.

“I will never allow any group with such a bad experience to be permitted to stage another event in Santa Ana,” said City Councilman John Acosta, a longtime opponent of the festival.

The City Council, which had been besieged for months by groups that opposed the festival, is considering a proposal to ban park events--such as the gay pride festival--that charge admission or for which any portion of the park must be fenced.

The council will vote on the proposed ordinance Monday. Council support for the proposal has been divided in the past, and it is unclear how Sunday’s melee in Centennial Park will affect the vote.

Mayor Daniel H. Young had asked for a revision of the city’s park ordinance a month ago, stating that the gay festival prompted him to question whether the park was an “appropriate setting” for such events.

Young and Daniel E. Griset were unavailable for comment Monday, and three other council members who were reached--Ron May, Rick Norton and Patricia A. McGuigan--said they were uncommitted on whether they would try to ban future events.

“The ability of any organization to hold an admission-paying festival in the parks is going to depend on this ordinance,” McGuigan said. “And that includes the gay pride festival as well.”

Acosta said Monday that he does not blame either side for the brawl but declared that he could not blame the fundamentalist Christians for being upset at the gays.

“I probably would have been in jail today for clobbering some of those . . . people,” Acosta said.

Police arrested six people Sunday and charged them with interfering with police after a fist-swinging brawl that was filled with taunts and shoving. Three of those arrested were protesting the festival, and the other three were gay-rights supporters, both sides agreed Monday.

Todd Michael Bales, 24, of Buena Park, who was one of the six people arrested, said he decided to confront the fundamentalist Christians because they continuously taunted the parade participants as the parade reached the end of its route on Mohawak Drive and Edinger Avenue.

“I was fed up with all the names they were calling us,” Bales said in an interview Monday. “This is what we have to deal all the time on a daily basis in Orange County when you’re openly gay. I mean, they were calling us all these things on our day.

“I’m not much of a protester or an activist. But when I’m provoked, I’m not afraid to stand up for myself. I may be gay, but I’m no sissy.”

Bales admitted he yanked signs from the fundamentalists and yelled back at them.

“Sometimes my mouth can get me into trouble,” Bales said. “But I was not doing more or less than the others. I wanted the festival back because the Christians were taking it over.”

Festival organizers said Monday that, despite the brawl, they were determined to see the event held again next year in Orange County.

Organizers noted that only a handful of people took part in the violence, while a crowd of about 5,000 people spent a peaceful day watching a parade and taking part in the festival. Most of the festival-goers did not know about the melee, which took place outside the gated grounds.

But John J. Duran, an attorney for Orange County Cultural Pride, organizer of the event, said Sunday’s brawl would probably haunt the event.

“This has put a mark on the festival,” Duran said. “We wanted to say we had a completely peaceful festival this year. We can’t do that now. We have to face the controversy in the coming years. This hurts.”

Duran blamed the fundamentalists for inciting the fistfights. He said they were calling gays and lesbians derogatory and inflammatory names such as “child molesters” and “AIDS carriers.”

“If this was a black pride festival and people were shouting such horrible slurs, you can bet the same reaction would have taken place. That goes with any group,” Duran said.

The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, head of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, said Sunday’s violence proved he was right in fighting for Santa Ana’s City Council to ban the festival from Centennial Park. Sheldon’s supporters are pursuing a recall campaign against six council members who opposed banning the parade.

Sheldon, who did not attend the event Sunday, said the fundamentalist Christians did not use any slurs until they were attacked by the gays.

“Not one single name was uttered until the homosexuals began their attack,” Sheldon said. “The homosexuals were looking for a fight.”