"To do this is just silly," says Gardon Massie III, of New Bedford, as a crowd gathers around PETA activist Annie Judah, of Norfolk, Va., yesterday in Kennedy Plaza.
Posted on 04/30/2004 7:24:11 AM PDT by presidio9
PROVIDENCE -- The human circus came to downtown yesterday, just a few days before the professional circus was to arrive.
The parade came to a place known for its daily and nightly three-ring people-watching shows: Kennedy Plaza.
The unusual can be the usual here at the bus stops, but even so, a half-naked woman painted orange with black stripes and sitting crosslegged in a cage isn't de rigueur for Kennedy Plaza.
In the name of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Annie Judah, 26, was sitting in just her underwear on the cold plaza between City Hall and the bus stops, as the activist group protested the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus due in town next week.
Judah strategically held a protest sign over her bare chest. A circus publicist was also in the crowd of gawkers, handing out material to counteract PETA's claims of animal abuse in the century-old circus. For both sides, this is a regular routine before the circus performances. PETA puts an attractive woman in a cage and draws a crowd and media in hopes of drawing awareness to its cause. Ringling Bros. says the protest raises awareness that they're coming to town.
The hour-long protest drew a small, ever-changing crowd of passing businesspeople, students skipping school, curious people catching buses, and the homeless who congregate around the plaza.
Kevin Vines, 52, and Cheryl Almeida, 39, held hands and looked on at the spectacle. The homeless couple stood at the back of the small crowd, which half-circled Judah's cage and a PETA volunteer carrying a video screen showing elephants being abused by animal trainers.
"Why don't they do this for the homeless people? I understand animal rights, but what about human rights?" Vines asked. "There are people on the street. No jobs. No food. Unemployment's sky-high . . ."
"Rent is sky-high," added Almeida.
"Put homeless people in cages and see how much attention we'd get," Vines said. "But this . . . I call it grandstanding."
Motorcycle police officers Edward Gonzalez and Edmond Malloy Jr. rode up to see what the fuss was about. They determined that Judah needed to remain covered, and they motored off.
"Is that legal?" Gordon Massie III, of New Bedford, asked Sgt. Michael Harris as they both looked over at the caged partially clothed woman. "If I did that I'd get arrested."
"If you did that, you'd have the women lined up," Harris kidded him.
Massie laughed, then turned solemn. "Why do our children have to do this to attract attention?" he wondered out loud.
Massie held two bags of bread in his hand. He said he was a World War II veteran, having served with the Navy in the Pacific. He wore a badge for the New England Shelter for the Homeless Veterans. He'd been homeless, he said. He wasn't any longer, so he was bringing the bread to a little shelter.
"Homeless veterans," Massie said. "There's a cause I'd be silly for. But to do this, is just silly." He watched as a crowd of teenage boys, one with a camera pushed forward around Judah in the cage.
Meanwhile, people, mostly men, jostled each other for a better look. Three men in city uniforms stopped by and ogled for a few minutes. Two men from Apollo Roofing and Sheet Metal brought their lunches and took their noon break a few feet away from Judah.
Were they concerned about the circus animals? Yeah, uh, well . . . "I wanted to see if [the protest] would happen," said Will Ajce.
One man stood near the cage and asked Judah questions about the circus elephants. Two other men stood a few feet away and listened. "He's not interested in what she says," one whispered to the other, and they both laughed.
The gusty wind whipped through the plaza, breaking apart the cage. "Nooo," moaned Judah, clutching the sign close to her, as a young man helpfully held the cage up.
A woman wearing a headset wandered over to the cage and sat splay-legged down in front of Judah. "I love you," the woman cooed and stuck her face against the cage bars. "Kiss me, kiss me." She was coaxed away.
"See, the circus is in town every day," observed bicycle Patrolman Gary Slater, and he pedaled away.
As the protest wound down, Judah was helped discreetly into a robe. Janette Butler of Cafe LaFrance was carrying a tray of pizza slices over into the crowd to promote the restaurant's move. She hadn't known about the protest, and she gaped when she saw the half-naked woman leaving the cage.
"Get a job! C'mon!" Butler said. "I go to the circus, and I'm taking my grandkids to the circus."
"To do this is just silly," says Gardon Massie III, of New Bedford, as a crowd gathers around PETA activist Annie Judah, of Norfolk, Va., yesterday in Kennedy Plaza.
don't get me started on clowns.
Well, he's defintitely not a vegetarian, that's for sure.
Why protest nekkid? They always do that.
I get the strong impressions that's the whole point of the exercise for them: young women who like to get naked in public and pretend they're doing something courageous and worthy. I can't see any other way naked = nice to animals.
BARF ALeRT!
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