View from inside church looking out. Boston police barricaded church doors and would not allow people in church to leave, as homosexual activist demonstrators block street, scream, intimidate, and threaten. Sound truck blaring "Shut it down" was parked in front of church (truck's loudspeakers visible just to left of 'Homophobia Kills' sign). Police made no effort to disperse crowd or stop sound truck, even though city has confirmed that they had no permit.  The police department told us later that no arrests were made.

Another view from church steps. Coffin facing church, police look on as demonstrators srceam and terrorize conference participants.

From inside the lobby. Police barracaded the church doors, would not let anyone inside leave.

See report below, also:

Page 2:  MORE PICTURES: Demonstration throughout the day.

Page 3:  MORE PICTURES: Signs, etc. they brought to intimidate.

Police officials in the church were even rude to
conference participants, ordering them to stay inside
until demonstrators decided to leave.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (OCTOBER 29, 2005) As hundreds of people from across Massachusetts and other states came to the Tremont Temple Baptist Church to attend a widely acclaimed conference on recovering from homosexuality through a relationship with God, angry and enraged homosexual activists converged outside to intimidate and terrorize them.

The all-day conference, titled "Love Won Out" featured renowned lecturers, many of whom had left the homosexual lifestyle and are now married or in heterosexual relationships. Major themes included theology and relationships with God, as well as practical information for those struggling with homosexuality or who know people who are in that situation.

But outside, homosexual activists gathered before 8 am and stayed until that evening when the conference ended. They were joined by more activists as the day went on, including many who apparently came from an anti-war rally on the Boston Common.

They did whatever they could to harass and intimidate the attendees, including waving signs, yelling and screaming, and later they even brought a sound truck. Some of the activists went up to individual attendees and took close up photos at them, taunting them personally.

The homosexual demonstrators also set up two coffins right in front of the church, with frightening messages accusing the conference of causing death and suicides.

Pastor Dallas Henry, who came from Maine to attend the conference, said the raging crowd and the threats were "bone chilling."  He described how the protesters were using PA systems, shouted obscenities and yelled “Shut it down! Shut it down!” for almost 45 minutes.

According to City of Boston officials, they did not have a permit to demonstrate outside the church, use sound equipment or props, or block traffic for that purpose.  Nevertheless, Boston police stood aside and allowed the demonstrators to do pretty much whatever they wanted. At times they even cooperated with the activists, chatting with them, directing traffic for them, and finally allowing them to completely block the street. The police department later informed us that there were no arrests, despite the near-riot behavior and the apparent breaking of laws regarding demonstrating without a permit and disrupting a religious event.

On the other hand, police were abrupt and unfriendly toward attendees. As one woman told us, about when she asked the police about the sound truck that was disturbing the conference inside:

"I asked a very curt, unfriendly policewoman why they weren't getting the truck to move on the road, why they were letting it just sit there, and she snarled there was nothing they could do. It must have gone on for at least 10 or 15 minutes, maybe more."

When the police were asked if the demonstrators had a permit, they refused to answer. It appeared to people we talked to that the demonstrators were given special consideration, to say the least. They did nothing to stop or even control what was going on.

During the day, attendees were told by the conference managers not to leave the building to get lunch or interact in any way with the demonstrators. Instead, they arranged to have bag lunches brought in at the last minute.

But the most frightening situation came in the afternoon. Activists jammed the entire width of the street outside and stepped up their agitation. In response, rather than attempt to disperse the crowd, the police barricaded the church doors and told people inside they could not leave for any reason. When one woman asked why she couldn't go outside, the officer snarled "Because I told you so."

The demonstrators definitely affected the conference. As one attendee related:

"Joe Dallas (LoveWonOut speaker, former gay activist, former head of Exodus Intl) wrapped up the day w a statement about wanting the demonstrators to have their freedom of speech about their feelings and beliefs. But he said ONE THING FRIGHTENED HIM, & that was when they started yelling SHUT IT DOWN! He did send out the alarm that our freedom of speech and religion are seriously at risk. He recounted stories of ministers shut down in other countries..."

Ignored by media. In the Boston media over the following days, the only reference to this horrific incident we could find were two sentences buried at the end of another article, on page B6 (see sidebar).

MassResistance commentary:

Could you imagine if this were an abortion clinic, and pro-life people did such a thing outside? The riot police would be swinging their billy clubs and using pepper spray. They would do whatever it took to disperse the crowd. And it would be on the front page of both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, as well as all the Boston electronic media.

On a number of occasions, Article 8 Alliance has demonstrated in Boston. Here's how WE'RE treated: First, if you have more than a few people you absolutely need a permit. And you need a special permit if you're using a sound device. The police have the option to place you wherever they think it's "safe." For example, when we demonstrated at the SJC building earlier this year, we were placed across the street, in a specific area of the sidewalk, well away from any building entrance. And believe me, the police became quite nasty if we ventured outside of our designated area.

Another interesting tidbit. . . We telephoned the office of Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo, who is an active member of the city's "Human Rights Board." When we outlined what had happened at the church, the person at his office curtly told us "I'm not terribly sympathetic." (Why are we not shocked? Councilor Arroyo proudly marches in the annual "Gay Pride" parade in Boston, and is endorsed by the homosexual newspaper.)

Are you going to wait until this happens to YOUR church?  Unfortunately, unless and until people around America begin to stand up to this kind of horrific outrage, our message is: Get used to this, and worse. And it will spread across the country unless it's stopped now!