Jo Freeman
 
 
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See photos from the 2012 Democratic convention

Page 1 2 3March on RNC political button

The 2012 Republican Convention
by Jo Freeman

Protests

Protests at the Republican Convention were diverse, frequent and small. Despite the weather, none were postponed, but some ended early with a downpour.

Protestors carry a sign reading No Billionaire Left Behind

Most of the many marches started from different city parks
and ended in an empty field set aside for demonstrations.

diverse protestors holding signs

The "99%" marched on Sunday, on a permit obtained
by the Service Employees International Union.

A protestor stands by posters against the fence on the other side of the convention center

The official protest zone met the legal requirement to be within sight and sound of the convention. It was unlikely that anyone attending the convention could see the rallies or any of the posters without making a special effort.

A mobile stage

At the other end was a stage which had more police than protestors watching whoever was on it. There wasn't much competition for the allotted time slots.

protestors by concrete barriers

While one could march on the streets from the parks to the protest zone, to get within the vicinity of the convention required negotiating an obstacle course.

A gate goes across a wide street

Vehicle entry to the security zone. No pedestrians allowed.

many protestors hold up a sign reading we demand equality healthcare affordable education and peace

A small but spirited group defied the threat of a
hurricane to March on the RNC on Monday.

A wide variety of groups and people participated in this march.

green party demonstrators
Dream Act, Occupy, Muslims

Code Pink

End Patriot Act, Support Labor Unions

demonstrators wearing all black, with helmets and covered faces

The black bloc created a minor kerfuffle when a dozen masked
marchers tried to get ahead of the front line. They were
surrounded by march marshals and pushed back inside.

Some demonstrations stayed in one place.

ice sculpture spells out middle class

Two New York artists installed an ice sculpture to illustrate the melting middle class www.meltedaway.com

Code Pink protestors holding signs

Vagina friendly political buttonCodePink and Planned Parenthood both protested the Republican "War on Women," that was really a war on sex. In the previous year, Republican-controlled state legislatures passed a series of bills to make legal abortion harder to obtain. Virginia's provoked controversy in February when the Assembly debated a bill which would require all women seeking abortions to first get a transvaginal ultrasound. This was widely denounced as very invasive. In June, Michigan Rep. Lisa Brown used the word "vagina" while speaking against a bill to limit abortions. One Republican Representative said the word was "so offensive, I don't even want to say
it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company." I Heart vaginas political button
The Speaker banned Ms. Brown from speaking from the floor.
She responded in a press conference: "If I can't say the word vagina, why are we legislating vaginas?"

To show their support, CodePink created some vagina representations to be worn by protestors. These garnered a
lot of attention and some verbal circumlocution. A lot of the newspapers described these costumes as "female body parts" instead of vagina representations.

Code Pink protestors holding signs

Planned Parenthood rally

Code Pink Protestor wears large sign       sign reading real sex ed saves lives, planned parenthood

People finely dressed with pink accent pieces hold moneybags and signs ironically supporting Romney's profits over people

CodePink greets guests coming to a Republican fundraising party.

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