at Cherry Park has led a local human-rights group to call for Grand Rapids police protection of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.  The non-profit Tolerance, Equality and Awareness Movement, or TEAM, has

urging police to prosecute unidentified protesters who allegedly made rape and death threats at the event organized by the East Hills Council of Neighbors to celebrate the community’s diversity. “ It is our position that these actions should not be tolerated in this community, and that the perpetrators of such actions be brought to justice,” TEAM founder and president Chris Surfus wrote in the letter. “( Hate speech that incites violence) infringes on the human rights of others and leaves a bad mark on the vitality and beauty of the diversity of our community.”  TEAM posted to its Web site a YouTube video of what appears to be a protester using an ancient Bible prophecy about Babylon to justify raping a Gay Day participant. ( 

Caution: the video clip contains foul language

). 

Grand Rapids police were called to the scene and both Gay Day participants and protesters dressed in Bible costumes and reciting Bible verses dispersed as it started to rain, Lt.  Mark Ostapowicz said.  Nobody came forward with a specific complaint, no charges were filed and the report has been closed, he said. “ The Gay Day celebration group was upset that the Bible group was able to protest, but in their protest they weren’t doing anything wrong, according to the (responding police officer’s) report,” Ostapowicz said. “ When the officers got there they were not threatening each other.  As long as they’re not breaking any of the protest rules, there’s nothing we can do. “ As of right now, we just have two groups in disagreement with each other.  Nothing happened that led the officers to do more.”  The Grand Rapids chapter of the National Organization for Women has

stating that “the GRPD’s failure to take action to protect our community from such horrendous threats of violence is alarming and unacceptable.” “ While (the protester) comments are obviously vile and hateful, I am even more distressed by the fact that the GRPD was called to the scene and failed to act against these threats,” the letter states. “ I firmly believe in the right to free speech and would not argue against these men's right to ‘protest’ at the event.  However, this clearly crosses the lines of free speech as threats of violence are directly made.  Not only are they indicating a desire to rape, they are stating that they will rape. “ I expect the elected officials of Grand Rapids to work to make my community as safe as possible for all citizens.  I believe the GRPD’s failure to act condones threats of violence and inadvertently encourages this type of behavior in our community.” 

Some discussion on the Gay Day Facebook page carries a similar tone. “ I for one feel less safe because of this event and the response from the authorities,” Amber Gerard commented on the page. “ I think if we can't depend on the authorities to protect us we need to be able to establish some sort of safety net in our community for the future.”  But apparently not all Gay Day participants found the protesters to be threatening throughout the event.  A community organizer in the Heritage Hill neighborhood said they "were such a non-event that it never occurred to me that (there) was even a problem."  TEAM is organizing a discussion of the incident tentatively scheduled Wednesday night, and a