Pro-life group was barred from Hampdenfest

Members of a pro-life group at St. Thomas Aquinas Church complained publicly Monday that they were prohibited from having a booth at Hampdenfest on Sept. 10, while Planned Parenthood, a pro-choice organization, was approved as a vendor.

But Genny Dill, a Hampdenfest organizer said all churches were barred from the annual fall festival, based on complaints that St. Thomas had offended festival goers with their proselytizing during the 2010 festival, and that there had been no such complaints about Planned Parenthood.

Dill said organizers were not taking sides, but that as volunteer coordinators, they had neither the time not the inclination to deal with controversy at the festival.

"We need to focus on making the festival happen, not putting out fires," Dill said.

Appearing before the Hampden Community Council, Marty Taylor, a member of the Respect Life Committee at St. Thomas Aquinas, read a letter arguing that the group had had a pro-life booth at Hampdenfest for several years and that "we had pictures and models of normal baby development before birth."

The booth also had information about local pregnancy centers and about post-abortion counseling, Taylor said. She told the Messenger the pro-life group is supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.

"Our experience at the booth over the years has been that many people are interested in our models and literature, and many people express approval of our point of view and the services we provide for women and their families," Taylor's letter states. "We also experience a few people who express disapproval of our point of view."

The letter states that in 2010, the group's booth was placed next to an unnamed vendor who complained about them "and then made false accusations against us to the festival organizers."

Taylor said the group wrote to co-organizer Charlotte Hays-Murray at that time, disputing the accusations, but never received a response.

"This year, when we contacted the organizers to register, we were told there would be 'no religious or faith-based groups' at the festival," the letter states. "We are appalled that all (of) Hampden's churches, which are supported by local residents, and which provide many services to Hampden residents, were banned from this year's festival."

The letter ends, "We appeal to your sense of decency and fairness: Please do not exclude Hampden's local churches from Hampdenfest next year."

The Hampden Community Council tabled discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas' complaint, but agreed to take up the matter later this year with the festival committee, made of members of the council and the Hampden Village Merchants Association. The community council and the merchants group now are co-organizers of the festival.

"We need to develop a policy" regarding groups like Respect Life and Planned Parenthood, said Adam Feuerstein, president of the community council.

Benn Ray, president of the merchants association, said Planned Parenthood made its debut at the fest last year and organizers got no complaints. By contrast, St. Thomas on several occasions has been asked to tone down their behavior. A decision was made that we just didn't have space for them this year."

Ray said he was unaware that all church groups had been barred from this year's festival.

"This is a problematic group," Ray said of the pro-life committee at St. Thomas Aquinas."It's not just vendors (complaining). It's attendees and residents. This is not an issue of people being persecuted for their beliefs."

But Betty Callahan, who runs the Hampden food pantry and is active in the local Methodist community, said she was selling baked goods at the festival a few years ago to raise money for the Methodist parish, and that her booth was next to St. Thomas Aquinas' booth.

"There was nothing offensive about it," Callahan said.

She said it's unfair to exclude church groups from the event, because they use the festival as fundraisers.

Festival organizers in the future "have to start thinking about everybody," she said.