Australian Critics of Scientology
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Dressing Appropriately for Pickets

Tara Housman, Sun 27 Aug 1995


Date: Sun, 27 Aug 95 16:47:12 -0700
From: Tara Housman <amprsand@SIRIUS.COM>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Re: Picketing in Australia? (was Re: Washington Post Article)

In article <41jq0h$n31@cougar.vut.edu.au>, gerdw@cougar.vut.edu.au (David Gerard) wrote:

I'd love to go on such a thing if there's one in Melbourne and there's more than just a few of us.

I will be wearing a suit and tie, as I always do when in a demonstration of less than three hundred people. It works, y'know. Police are polite to you (they say 'please' before thumping you).

(Hint: pin your tie down onto your shirt so the Bad Guys can't grab you and strangle you with it. This tactic learnt on anti-Nazi demos.)

You bring up a very good point about dressing up to picket. Not only will police be more polite, but your concerns will listened to by the media far more closely than if you dress in a manner that can be dismissed as "lunatic fringe."

Whenever I went on protest marches for feminist causes, I ALWAYS made sure to wear a nice dress, hose, and makeup. I'd wasn't ABOUT to play into the opposition's stereotype of feminists as outcasts, misfits, etc., etc.

Although most men haven't worn a button-in fake tie since grammar school (what IS the term for those pre-knotted removable ties?), a top quality break-away tie is smart apparel for the avid anti-Nazi demonstrator.

I know that they DO make them in adult size, with quality silk, etc. Taxicab drivers who work for companies which require ties opt for break-away ties, so that they don't hand a robber a ready noose.

Still, I don't think there's anything to worry about with the Co$ picket. For the most part, Clamizdat likes to attack the wallet, not the throat.


[Hints and Tips for demonstrating against Scientology]