Dotti & Roby arrested in act of civil disobedience at Focus on the Family

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY HEADQUARTERS

Yesterday, representing Soulforce, we initiated a non-violent act of civil disobedience after several years of attempt to meet and dialogue with Dr. James Dobson.

We want to share about our decision and why it is now imperative that we increase the tension.

Click here for the press release issued by Soulforce about the civil disobedience in which we participated.

Click here for our newsletter that was sent out yesterday, giving details. You can read out statements that we offered, as we handed our a video, Dear Dr. Dobson. You can also link to Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, in which we outselves as preparation for our spiritual purification before taking this action. In that newsletter, we also outlined Dr. King's steps for non-violence and what those entail. All of those steps had been followed before taking this particular step.

The following is a two part video on You Tube of what happened.

Part I



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Part II



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Roby: There has already been much written about our direct action and civil disobedience at Focus on the Family on February 19, 2007. I’m tempted not to say more, but everything you may have read thus far is, well… media. Apart from the Soulforce press release and the video created by Kate Burns, everything else is media, and while much of it is accurate, it doesn’t go into detail about our action and experience. Please read on for more details. We will be providing a comprehensive list of links to all the media pieces out there, but since it’s 11:30pm on Wednesday, and we’ve been traveling all day, we’ll post more of those links tomorrow.

Since our CD (civil disobedience) we have had many interviews, both television news, Sirius OutQ Radio, The Advocate magazine, GLBT Newspapers around the country, as well as the Colorado Springs Gazette and The Denver Post. Wednesday morning at 5:30 (7:30 EST), we were on live with Sirius OutQ Radio. We were laughing at ourselves and each other as, at 5:25 a.m. we were gulping down some caffeine to try and wake up after only about 4 hours of sleep (yes, we got to bed late) and warming up our voices so that we wouldn’t sound like we just rolled out of bed. So there I am, in the bathroom brushing my teeth and getting some water, and I hear this strange noise coming from the hotel room. It sounded like a cow bellowing her mating call. I listened closely again, and then with a little bit of trepidation, I came out of the bathroom and discovered Dotti sitting on the bed “warming” up her voice. I laughed, and then sat down on the bed beside her and decided she had a good idea, even if it was strange and funny. So just imagine the two of us in our pajamas, sitting on the bed in the hotel at 5:25 a.m. doing cow calls. I wonder what the neighboring hotel guests thought!

The outpouring of love & support toward us has been nothing short of incredible. We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and allies. Thanks to each one of you who wrote a kind note, and/or gave a donation to help with our bail. We love you all and we appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity!

So... WHY DID WE DO THIS??? Here's why: Because Dr. Dobson's anti-gay teachings, misinformtion and misrepresentation of us is killing people. It nearly killed me (Roby) in 2001, and it is harming families--ours included--the very families he claims to value. We cannot sit idly by while Dr. Dobson continues to speak untruths that harm people. Just like most of us would not readily give the KKK or Hitler a platform for teaching or preaching hateful and damaging rhetoric, neither are we going to sit back while Dr. Dobson takes advantage of his platform to tell lies about us, and distort the work of prominent researchers to try and support his agenda.

The night before our CD, we took a walk around the perimeter of the Focus on the Family campus. We did this because we wanted to continue to surround Focus in Love and Light and prepare our hearts and minds for the action planned for the next day. Other ways in which we prepared for this action included reading Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, visualizing Dr. Dobson in his wholeness, and praying for hearts & minds to be ENGAGED. The evening after we got out of jail, we again, circled Focus on the Family and again surrounded the campus with Love and Light.

On February 19, 2007, we entered the Focus on the Family Headquarters Administration Building. We went right up to the reception desk and started conversing with the ladies at the reception desk. We confirmed that there would be an 11:00 tour, and proceeded to sign our names on the list for that tour. After that, we went over to the Welcome Center, where we watched the latest TV clips of Dr. Dobson on Larry King Live, where Dr. Dobson spoke about “the Ted Haggard Scandal,” abortion, and the “gay agenda,” among other things. From there, we went to the bookstore and looked around. While looking around the bookstore (and waiting for the eleven o’clock tour) Roby was rehearsing her sound bytes, and what she was going to say to the Focus Staff as we started the CD.

At 10:45, we went back over to the Admin building for our tour. Shortly after we entered the building, our friend, Diane I. saw us and greeted us with a warm hello and a hug. We told Diane that we were going to take the next tour. She said, “You’ve been on the tour before… come with me, and I’ll show you some new things.” We actually think Diane may have been onto something, because she so intently swept us away from the others (including Bill, Chris and Kate… our Soulforce supporters and film crew, who we were deliberately ignoring.)

It turned out to be perfect, because Kate, Chris and Bill went on the tour with Diane #1 (we call her Diane #1 because she was the Diane we met our first visit to Focus, and she used to live in Bellingham—her husband was on staff at The Firs, and they were involved in Geneva Community Church.) While they were on the tour with Diane #1, we were having deep meaningful conversation with Diane #2. Diane #2 is so sweet and kind, and we feel that she really cares about us and is genuinely interested in our lives and our stories. In the course of the conversation, we discovered that Diane #2 has a lesbian God-child, and a lesbian niece, both of whom have life-partners, and both of whom she loves dearly and seems to celebrate.

After our walk around and conversation with Diane #2, we three walked back downstairs, and Diane said, “Well, what are you gals going to do for the rest of the afternoon?” That is when we said this: “Diane, to be honest, we’re going to stay here. Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family have been misrepresenting gay and lesbian families, couples and individuals, claiming that we are sinful, dangerous, un-fit to raise children and undeserving of equal protections under the law… and that must end. In addition, in the December 18th issue of TIME Magazine, Dr. Dobson wrote about Mary Cheney’s pregnancy and plans to raise a child with her lesbian partner, Heather Poe. In this article, Dr. Dobson completely distorted the work of prominent researchers. Those researchers are doing what they need to do to set the record straight and make things right, but we are here on behalf of our lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community to demand that Dr. Dobson stop lying about us, and to demand that he publicly recant his false statements and issue a public apology… and we’re not leaving until he does.”

At that point, Diane, seemingly surprised by our request, said, “Well… Dr. Dobson isn’t here today.” Roby said, “Diane, you know how to get him on the phone.” She then said, “Well… I’ll go see what I can do.” When she did that, we then saw Diane #1 and exchanged hugs, and began to talk with her, sharing the same information regarding our intention. Here's a picture with Diane #1 below, along with her supervisor, Heather (who we met for the first time) who was evaluating Diane #1 that day!



After about ten minutes, Gary Schneeberger, the Media Relations Director and Special Assistant to Dr. Dobson came out to meet us. He introduced himself and asked how he could help us. While this was taking place, Kate was filming. See the video for what happens… Gary Schneeberger told Kate that she needed to stop filming, which she did… but she kept the audio on, and captured what Schneeberger said. Please watch the video! Click here to see that!



We told Schneeberger why we were there, and that we were not leaving until Dr. Dobson issues a public statement and apology. He told us that Dr. Dobson does not want to and will not meet with us today, tomorrow or the next day, and that “he’s heard your rhetoric before and he’s not interested in a dialogue… because he doesn’t feel it would be a dialogue, but a monologue, and he’s not interested.”

We told Schneeberger that we were not going to leave. He then said, “Well then, you leave me no choice but to turn you over to security.” We said, “We understand.” We then immediately sat down on the floor.



A security guard came and asked us to get up and leave. We said that we would not leave until Dr. Dobson issued an apology and recanted his false rhetoric about us. He then said, “Well then, you leave me no other choice but to turn you over to the Police.” We said, “We understand.”

The Colorado Police arrived – we hear there were five police cars out front, and they even put up a barricade to keep other visitors from entering the “crime scene.” They would not allow Channel 11 news to come on the property and video.

Our friend, Den Patterson (head of security at Focus on the Family), approached us with the Police Officers. Den looked at us and said, “Ladies… what are you doing?” We told him. He said, “Why don’t you take your message and do this work out there in the political arena where maybe you can make a difference, because it’s not going to change anything here.” He then said, “Come on… I really don’t want to have to do this to you… don’t you want to just get up and walk out of here?” We said, “No, Den. This is an acute issue, and we are not leaving until there is some action taken by Dr. Dobson.” Den then said, “You know I’m going to have to turn you over to the Police.” We said, “Yes, we know and we love you anyway.” The Police Officer then stepped up to us and gave one more chance to leave without arrest. We peacefully refused. He then said, “You are both under arrest…” They then asked us to come with them, as they escorted us out the front doors of Focus on the Family, asked us to put our hands on the police car and get a pat down to check for weapons, then put us inside the back seat of the car. By the way, if you haven’t been in the back seat of a police car, the seat is really HARD, so you want to ease yourself down so as not to bruise your tailbone!

As we were transported away from Focus, Kate and Chris were at the entrance taking video and photographs. We waved at them from the police car, and gave them the peace & victory sign, and the love sign.



After our arrest, we were taken to the Falcon Division of the Colorado Springs Police Department. There, we were put into a room with another police officer (to watch us) and then another officer came in to start processing us. We had to wait awhile for the Focus on the Family police report to come back to the station before they could finish our process and release us. During our “stay” at the Police Department, we had enjoyable conversations with several of the Police Officers. They were all very kind, gentle, and congenial. Interestingly enough, we were not handcuffed, nor were we locked up into a jail cell. When we asked why, they replied that they felt certain that we were not a threat and we were not dangerous, and they saw no need for those measures.

We were released with a citation for “trespassing on private property and refusing to leave the premises even after repeated requests.” We do not yet know how much our fine will be, as we have been summoned to return to Colorado Springs on March 14th to appear before the judge to plead our case. At that time, we will receive our “punishment,” which we hope will just be a fine. Thanks to all who have contributed thus far.



The day after our civil disobedience, we took roses and cards to Diane #1, Diane #2, Den Patterson (head of Security), Dr. Dobson and the Falcon Division of the Colorado Police Department. It was our way of saying, “The Light in us honors the Light in you.” When we gave the roses to the Police officers, they said, “We really do appreciate your cooperation and the manner in which you conducted yourselves yesterday. It makes our job so much easier.” We told them “they were the nicest police officers to ever arrest us.”

Check out the video and the media links.

Again… Thanks to ALL OF YOU who have stepped up to help us, support us, and encourage us!

We love you!

Roby & Dotti (and Rylee Joy even though she was able to go with us).