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In the Tampa Bay area, people from all walks of life, and beyond just veteran activists, are becoming involved with antiwar rallies.
By MIKE BRASSFIELD
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 6, 2003
At a roadside peace vigil in Pinellas Park, homemaker Leslie Douglass waved a protest sign for the first time in her life.
"I'm having heart palpitations," said the 42-year-old Clearwater woman.
A nearby demonstrator, 80-year-old Glenn Kinsel of St. Petersburg, represented another perspective, another era. The lifelong pacifist was a conscientious objector during World War II.
"War means that humankind has failed again," Kinsel said.
The Tampa Bay area's antiwar protesters, now planning another round of peace rallies, are a newly diverse crowd. They are Christians, atheists and New Agers. They are college students, octogenarians and empty-nesters in their 50s. A few believe the looming war in Iraq can be averted, others think it already has started.
For the most part, they fall into two distinct camps: The pacifists oppose war on moral grounds, saying that killing is never justified. The pragmatists think this particular war would be a huge tactical error that would only breed more terrorism.
"A war is going to make us a lot less safe here at home," said Linda Easton, 36, a New Port Richey mother of three. "These countries -- Iraq and whoever else we're going to attack -- don't have the armies to fight us. The only way they have to be heard, and I don't agree with it, is through terrorist attacks."
Antiwar rallies like those on many American campuses Wednesday continue to make news. But the protesters are still in the minority.
As time ticks down toward war, and a quarter-million American troops mass in the Middle East, national polls consistently show a divided country.
Roughly 60 percent of Americans support the use of military force against Iraq, while nearly 40 percent oppose it.
The Tampa Bay area's peace movement started largely with the usual suspects -- veteran activists and traditional antiwar groups. But organizers have been working to appeal to a wider public, branching out into mainstream America.
"We made a conscious decision to broaden our message beyond the pacifist point of view. I could stand on a street corner with a dozen people just like me, but what good would that do?" said Mark Kamleiter, a St. Petersburg lawyer and co-chairman of the Green Party of Florida.
Kamleiter helped organize the largest recent peace demonstration in the Tampa Bay area, a Jan. 18 rally outside MacDill Air Force Base. Police estimated the crowd at 500, but organizers say it was closer to 2,000.
"We were surprised by the number of new folks who had never protested before," said another organizer, Gulfport peace activist Christine O'Brien. "We had hoped to not be singing to the choir."
Since then, the local peace movement has been holding weekly rallies at public places such as BayWalk in downtown St. Petersburg and at major intersections around the Tampa Bay area.
These vigils often draw 30-50 protesters who pass out leaflets and hold signs saying "War fuels terrorism" or "Peace works better than duct tape." To counter accusations that they're un-American, protesters sometimes wave an American flag or a red, white and blue sign saying "Peace is Patriotic."
They get mixed reactions from passers-by. Some drivers give a thumbs-up, others a middle finger. There are supportive honks, profanity-laden rants and an occasional shout of "Hippies!" or "Communists!"
"It's interesting to watch the reactions," said Julie Schletter, 52, a Seminole High School guidance counselor who joined 30 demonstrators last week at Park Boulevard and 49th Street in Pinellas Park. "The last time I did this was probably 30 years ago."
In many ways, Schletter was a typical peace protester at a typical rally. Women sometimes outnumber men at these vigils. Many are in their 50s and protested the Vietnam War when they were in college.
The rally was nearly over when an angry, red-faced man pulled over, got out of his car and confronted the protesters.
"What you're doing is supporting terrorism!" yelled Jeffrey Stech, 41, of Pinellas Park. "You all are un-American! Saddam supplies terrorists!"
He kept at it, getting in their faces and shouting. Protesters like Linda Hubner calmly told Stech that he had a right to his opinion.
Hubner, who organizes weekly peace vigils, suspects that opposition to the war will grow if the war actually begins.
"Vietnam War protests were more college-based, and this is more community-based," said Hubner, 52. "I've been going to protests since I was 17 years old, and I've never seen anything like this."
-- Mike Brassfield can be reached at (727) 893-8455 or brassfield@sptimes.com