Michele Bachmann canceled a scheduled public speech at Carroll’s Pumpkin Farm in Grinnell, Iowa, after a few dozen college students advocating for gay rights and women’s rights showed up. The fundraiser was held by the anti-gay organization founded by Bob Vander Plaats, the Family Leader, which is closely associated with James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, and was the group behind the anti-gay, anti-pornography, pro-slavery “Marriage Vow” that kicked off the GOP presidential campaign season.
The Des Moines Register reports that in typical Bachmann fashion, “the event’s 5:30 start time came and went with no sign of the candidate after the event space filled up with college students, some carrying signs. Bachmann ended up not appearing until about 6:40 – after a truck from the Poweshiek County Sheriff and two police cars arrived on the scene and officers cordoned off part of the farm with police tape.”
Rather than speaking publicly from the barn – which was festooned with Bachmann campaign posters and clearly arranged for her to speak – Bachmann met with Family Leader donors privately in a house on the property and then took a short walking tour with farm owners Danny Carroll – a former state lawmaker – and his wife.
The students, meanwhile, stood behind the cordon waving signs supporting gay marriage and playing on misstatements the candidate has made. They clapped rhythmically and yelled questions and entreaties in Bachmann’s general direction.
Photos show a handful of students holding signs like, “John Wayne Quincy Adams, our greatest forefather,” playing upon several of Bachmann’s misstatements on American history.
The Register adds,
The students themselves said they simply wanted to hear the candidate speak in her own words. One male student said he and a group donated a few dollars to the Family Leader to participate in the event.
“We really weren’t hoping to heckle her or anything,†said one female student who refused to give her name. “It’s just really disappointing that that’s what she assumed because we were college students.â€
Riley Mangan, a freshman at Grinnell, said she thought the event would be a good opportunity to see different political views and “how a campaign works.â€
“I would’ve liked to hear her and hear her rationale for what she believes and why she deserves my vote, because it’s my first time to vote,†Mangan said. “I’d like to make an informed decision and hear her views.â€
“It seems like she promised to speak and didn’t so it’s kind of just disrespectful in a way to us who had spent time here and been here since 5 waiting.â€
CBS News writes, “Student Jillian Johnson said, ‘Grinnell is known for having peaceful, politically active, liberal-leaning students. I don’t understand what she was scared of’,” adding, “The students joined the crowd in the barn waiting for Bachmann to speak, while the lawmaker’s staff huddled, apparently concerned about the protestors, who carried signs saying, ‘Have my gaybies’ and ‘My body, my choice’ and ‘Female Gay Student 99%, where’s my future?’ The police arrived and cordoned off an area outside the barn where the Grinnell students were made to stand.”
And The New York Times adds,
“A few students, who had been alerted to the visit by an e-mail from the campus Democrats, unfurled signs protesting Mrs. Bachmann’s opposition to gay rights (“Pumpkins are the Gayestâ€). But there was no chanting and no heckling. Most students said they had come to hear her speak and to ask a question or two.
“Grinnell’s known for being a very liberal and politically active campus, but we’re very peaceful,’’ said one student, Jillian Johnson. “We weren’t going to throw anything. We just wanted her to talk to us.â€
Towleroad posted this video report:
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