On Friday I had warned the staff to be prepared for The Bible People; Winter Party was ripe fruit for them. In the mid afternoon of a beautiful Sunday, where the sun was drowning us in warm weather sure, enough they came. They chanted and screamed--everything to disrupt a gay crowd, but obviously their elders had never taught them the uselessness of screaming against a gay crowd having fun and minding their own business.

The first counter-action came from the crowd of visitors. They had paid a fortune to come to South Beach to enjoy themselves, and were the least likely to show restraint. This girl tore into them like a pit bull. The crowd tore the signs out of The Bible Peoples hands and broke them in half; one boy offered me the banner itself to one, but I declined and suggested it would make him a wonderful souvenir. For the first time--and it was because of the visitors--the Bible People had been attacked, and they had been waiting for this, with that schmuck who films everything and tries to force an issue with their mistreatment. (Schmuck is going to have spray paint next time.)

Within minutes the police arrived and corralled them across the street to the jeers of the crowd. (Actually, I thought if there had been a pile of reeds there, they would have been burnt.) They showed the police how horribly they had been treated, how they had been attacked, and how much intolerance they had been shown. The police couldn't have been less interested. Well-versed in these antics, the police surrounded them and threatened them with arrest for disturbing the peace. I love Miami Beach.