It was the 1992 Republican National convention in Houston, I was there on its last night, right beside the Tennessee delegation- they had signs proclaiming "Family rights forever, gay rights never" ...

I was dressed in a black t-shirt and black jeans, I refused to take a pro-bush sign and watched the spectacle with my arms crossed, never once applauding. Secret service, and party wonks quietly questioned the republican friends I came with- asking if I was going to be 'a problem'- my friends were outraged at this and watched as they posted men in suits to watch me, and others took pictures of me. I guess the pictures were to check to see if I was on a list of "known trouble makers". I made no disturbance, I made no protest- but after my friends told me I was being watched, and pointed out the men in suits standing and staring sternly at me, I made a point of every now and then solemnly turning to some random spot in the crowd and giving a single, slow, meaningful nod.

One republican friend left the convention very upset, and said it was a disillusioning experience for her.

A bit more than four years earlier, at the age of 16 or 17 I had suggested and helped plan a demonstration by the college democrats against Quayle when he came to speak at OSU... (coincidentally, this was around the year I met Podrock and had him as a Geology teacher in an NSF Geology camp in Colorado Springs)...

It was announced that Quayle would be speaking at OSU, I suggested at a meeting of the University democrats that we make helium balloons with Dukakis banners and release them during his speech- It went well, He was very late for the rally, so we had to trim the banners to keep them neutrally buoyant in the middle of his speech we came up and released a large number of balloons up-wind of him, they drifted slowly over the crowd and across the podium, causing glares from his entourage and causing him to interrupt his speech and say something to the effect of "Uh, there he goes!"

I had had previous encounters with the Bush - Quayle 'security' goons at a Bush speech in OKC, but that is another story- as is another balloon protest I had done earlier at OSU...