Hard to believe this happened only a year ago in America. Well, maybe it shouldn't be hard to believe.
"Pastor Billy Ball, one of the known five men arrested last year, knows firsthand that rights haven't always mattered at all, no matter their fashion of expression.
Ball was arrested last year for "criminal trespass" after walking, accompanied by several other pastors, within 300 yards of the Dyke Parade. The arresting officer, an avowed lesbian, responded to his inquiries about compelling governmental interest with an angry brush-off: "I'm not taking questions today, I'm giving orders."
Within minutes, five of the men were handcuffed and locked in a stainless steel paddy wagon across the street, where they would wait in 100-plus degree heat until they were paraded through an Atlanta precinct. Ball required medical attention after his stay in the steaming, unventilated paddy wagon, and recalls that the men were required to remain handcuffed even when they needed to use the restroom.
After a night in the Fulton County jail, the men were released under the condition that they notify the city of Atlanta of their whereabouts every month. To Ball's chagrin, the men have not yet been arraigned, their $2 million lawsuit is hung up in red tape, and a year later, the case has not even gone to trial.
Dick Christensen calls the situation, "virtual probation," noting that several of the men have been denied jobs because of their "new prison record."