Scientology attempts to ban HIV positive picketers

Scientology attempts to ban picketers due to their HIV status

Los Angeles, CA (1-12-09) - In a shocking new tactic attempting to ban peaceful protesters from picketing the Scientology compound known as "Gold Base" near Hemet, CA, Scientology lawyers have obtained medical information regarding two protesters, and are using their HIV positive status in an attempt to prevent them from picketing at the location.

Worldwide pickets against Scientology have surged in the last year, and Scientology has been fighting to stop them, especially near the Hemet compound. Scientology has used tactics ranging from physical attacks [1], false reports to police [2], and the emission of an estimated 110db organ note from loudspeakers in an attempt to drown out the protesters' chants. [3]

The latest tactics, however, are downright sickening, illegal, and an insult to members of the LGBT community and HIV patients worldwide.

Attorney Graham Berry and activists "Angry Gay Pope" (AGP) and "Happy Smurf" (a former Scientologist) are openly homosexual. Scientology, which policy states that homosexuals are "low on the tone scale" and should be "disposed of quietly and without sorrow" [4], has obtained AGP and Happy Smurf's private records and discovered that they are HIV positive. [5]

Scientology is lobbying for the passage of a county-wide ordinance restricting protesting at "Gold Base". [6] Scientology considers the presence of the two HIV+ men to be a threat to the well-being of the alleged 500 "church workers" at the Base, and is seeking to restrict protests in a move that may constitute an restriction on 1st Amendment rights of activists in Hemet.

This is not the first time Scientology has openly spoken out against homosexuality. At the 2008 Toronto Gay Pride Parade, Scientologists made false claims of being able to cure homosexuality. [7]

Recently the Church of Scientology of California donated a generous sum of money to aid in the passing of Proposition 8, a law that banned marriage between homosexual couples. [8]

For more information on the protesters being discriminated against at "Gold Base", see http://angrygaypope.com and http://www.grahamberry.com.

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References:

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1RUQ7xwz3Y

[2] http://rinf.com/alt-news/activism/scientology-injunction-denied-against-anonymous/2783/

[3] http://vimeo.com/2721512

[4] http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/dispose.htm

[5] http://forums.whyweprotest.net/123-leaks-legal/breaking-news-riverside-ordinance-35565/10/#post687069

[6] http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-scientology10-pg,0,5285738,full.story

[7] http://www.queerty.com/scientologys-anti-gay-push-thwarted-at-toronto-pride-20080710/

[8] http://www.xzonenews.com/Hypocritical%20Church%20of%20Scientology%20Says%20Ban%20Gay%20Marriage%20-%2020081024.htm

ENDS