Lady Liberty League Report
Published in CIRCLE Magazine
| Lady Liberty League Fund |
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Pagan Pride
Boston University Provost Denies Paganism is a Religion
Free Speech Upheld
Camp Gaea Legal Battle
Volunteers Needed for Pagan Law Project
Ozark Avalon Wins Tax Dispute
Attacks on Pagans, Witches, & Harry Potter
Pagan Pride
This year's Pagan Pride Day events broke all previous attendance records. A total of 17,494 people attended 76 events around the world, which is 8000 more people than last year. Over $15,000 was collected for various charities, including the reflief fund of The American Red Cross. Food and goods donations topped 15,000 pounds, up 6000 pounds from last year. In addition, Pagan Pride Day got positive press coverage, including articles in the Lynchburg News and Advance (Virginia) on September 20 and the Daytona Beach News-Journal (Florida) on September 25. More than 80 events are already scheduled for 2002. More information is on-line: www.paganpride.org.
On October 31, 2001, the Pagan Pride Project sponsored the First Annual "Out of the Broom Closet" Day. Pagans of various paths were encouraged to wear symbols of their faith proudly, and to do anything they could to spread the message that Pagan religions are valid faiths. It was suggested that they contact media to correct misconceptions about Pagan religions and to educate the public about the true face of Paganism. The project was sponsored with the belief that if Pagans come out to those they encounter in their day to day lives, this may change perceptions of Paganism and help the general public realize that Pagans are everywhere.
The Pagan Pride Project has created the Tempest Smith Tolerance Pledge in honor of Tempest Smith, a 12 year old girl who took her own life in February of 2001, due in part to harrassment by classmates who constantly taunted her about her Wiccan religion. The pledge is available online to download at the Pagan Pride Project website or as an online signatory at www.aren.org/lettersig.html. It was created by Executive Director Cecylyna Dewr to promote awareness of the consequences of any kind of intolerance, but most specifically relates to religious discrimination. For more information, contact: Pagan Pride Project, PMB 119, 133 W. Market St., Indianapolis, IN 46203.
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Boston University Provost Denies Paganism is a Religion
An anti-Pagan editorial by a provost at Boston University (BU) in Boston, Massachusetts was published in The National Review Magazine on September 5, 2001. He not only proclaimed that Paganism should not be recognized as a religion on the BU campus, he argued that the acceptance of these faiths as legitimate by campus chaplains at other universities suggests that religious life there is devoid of intellectual seriousness. Lady Liberty League asks anyone that has connections with BU faculty, students, and/or staff to please contact us at LLL@circlesanctuary.org with a cc to dziwozona@excite.com.
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Free Speech Upheld
A complaint and request to remove Starhawk's latest book, Twelve Wild Swans, from the Springdale, Arkansas Public Library was turned down by the library board in July 2001. The complaint alleged that the book would, "turn people away from God and Bible scriptures." The board, however, felt that they couldn't ban a book just because it dealt with non-Christian subjects.
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Camp Gaea Legal Battle
Camp Gaea is a 168-acre campground and retreat center near Tonganoxie, in Leavenworth County, Kansas. Over the past decade, a variety of Pagan events have been held there, including the Heartland Pagan Festival in May and the Gaea Goddess Gathering in September. It also has been a site used for gatherings of nudists, gay men, and other groups. Owned by Earth Rising, Camp Gaea has had a permit to operate as a campground since 1992. The camp's special use zoning permit expired earlier this year and when Earth Rising sought to renew it this Fall, a group of neighbors objected, raising concerns about a variety of issues, including opposition to Pagan religion. In October, Camp Gaea's permit renewal request was denied by the Leavenworth County Planning Commission and then by the County Board of Commissioners. Without a permit, Camp Gaea can no longer operate as a campground. To change this situation, Earth Rising is preparing to file a lawsuit in federal court, has hired an attorney, and has begun discussions with the Kansas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Donations designated for their legal defense fund are being accepted at: Earth Rising, Inc., PO Box 696, Tonganoxie, KS 66086. For more information, contact: Gendah3@aol.com.
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Volunteers Needed for Pagan Law Project
The Pagan Unity Campaign has begun a new project to create a searchable database of all US laws that directly effect Pagans. Called the Pagan Laws Project, its database will be accessible to anyone, and will be searchable by geographic location or by topic. The project needs volunteers to assist with legal research and with doing data entry. To volunteer, contact: shannon@paganunitycampaign.org.
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Ozark Avalon Wins Tax Dispute
Ozark Avalon Church of Wicca won its dispute with the Tax Assessor's Office of Cooper County, Missouri. The office had declared that Wicca was not a religion according to Missouri law. The dispute started in December, 1999, when Ozark Avalon applied for property tax exemption as a legally recognized church. The Tax Assessor's office declined the application and classified the property as agricultural, a decision later affirmed by the Cooper County Board of Equalization on July 24, 2000. The Board refused to give a reason for their decision, which was upheld in spite of documentation that showed that Ozark Avalon already had federal tax exempt status from the US Internal Revenue Service. Ozark Avalon appealed to the State Tax Commission of Missouri, which overturned the Board's ruling and granted them exemption. The Chief Hearing Officer of the Commission stated that "...the activities which are conducted...on the church site are comparable to any number of activities which would be conducted at...what would be recognized generally as mainline Protestant denominations throughout Missouri."
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Attacks on Pagans, Witches, & Harry Potter
The Warner Brother's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling, has met with widespread popular response throughout the UK, US, and other places. This film about an 11 year old boy wizard has set box office records and generated worldwide media attention. Rowling's Potter books also have enjoyed phenomenal success, with 116 million sold in 200 countries and translated into 40 languages.
Not all response to this hit movie has been positive, however. Some extremist "Christian" preachers and organizations have attacked the Potter movie and books as part of their crusade of lies and bigotry against the Craft and Paganism. A video entitled, "Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged - Making Evil Look Innocent," has been released by Jeremiah Films, marketed on the internet, and shown at anti-Potter, anti-Pagan meetings. An article, "Potter wizardry touches off religious debate," published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on November 16, 2001 announced one such meeting as well as looked at the religious controversy stirred up by film oponents. Countering the anti-Potter sentiments proclaimed by the Baptist preacher organizing the meeting were pro-Potter perspectives expressed by Father Howard Hasse, pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in Union Grove; by Rick Deines, assistant to Bishop Peter Rogness of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amercia; and by Rev. Selena Fox, high priestess of Circle Sanctuary and executive director of Lady Liberty League. Some members of the Circle Sanctuary Community attended the anti-Potter meeting mentioned in the article and took notes on the various false and defamatory anti-Craft and anti-Pagan rantings of the preacher and the film. The preacher personally attacked by name three Pagan priestesses and Witch activists - Phyllis Curott, Margot Adler, and Selena Fox. On November 12, Scripps Howard News Service ran an article, "Road to hell paved with Harry Potter?," which also reported on anti-Potter, anti-Pagan propaganda, including the video. Pro-Potter sentiments were expressed by Wren Walker of The Witches Voice, who also presented accurate information about contemporary Paganism and Witchcraft.
Send newsclippings and other media coverage pertaining to Harry Potter and Paganism to: LLL Archives, Box 219, Mt. Horeb, WI 53572 USA
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