Group protests gays with flag burning, songs

About 25 members of the Old Paths Baptist Church protested Monday afternoon outside The Inner Chef, chanting anti-gay slogans, burning a gay pride flag and brandishing signs with messages like "Fags Die, God Laughs." \nBobb Easterbrook, a clerk at the store, was the only person working there at the time.\n"I was playing on the computer and somebody came in and said to look outside," Easterbrook said. "I was like, 'Ahh. Uh oh.' I'm going to hell, I guess."\nBloomington police officers responded to the scene but only to prevent it from getting out of hand, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Mick Williams. He said police did intervene, stopping protestors when they began burning the New Glory, a gay-pride variation of the American flag that features rainbow colors as the stripes. \nThe Old Paths group began the day with a protest behind Woodburn Hall. Though the group has been to IU many times in the past few years, Monday's demonstration was larger than usual, complete with children playing instruments and singing songs beside the sign-wielding adults.\nThe protestors moved downtown at about 2:15 p.m., where they began the demonstration outside The Inner Chef, 105 N. College Ave. Protestor Grady Styles said he joined in because "the gay community in Bloomington is so strong."\nJohn Lewis, pastor of the Old Paths church, said his group burned the flag there because it believes gay people will burn in hell.\n"The elite city of Bloomington harbors an elitist, faggot business called The Inner Chef which openly and unabashedly claim they are against God Almighty," Lewis said. "... We were there to cry against it. We burned the flag, and we will do it again."\nLewis said he plans to research the legality of burning the flag and intends to burn the flag legally the next time his group protests.\nThis protest came less than a month after two minors stole and burned a version of the New Glory that had been hanging outside The Inner Chef's storefront. The minors admitted to stealing the flag Oct. 8 because they thought it was "unpatriotic."\nStephen Chambers, co-owner of The Inner Chef, said Monday's protest was troubling, but he was confident Bloomington would be supportive of his business. \n"It's hard to get terribly upset about it," he said. "As a gay person, I've dealt with prejudice all my life. But it's kind of sad that there are people that have such a twisted view of what Christianity is about."\nAs for the flag-buring, Chambers had an optimistic view.\n"It's quite likely a gay business that got their money," he said. "So more power to them."\nTrina Hamlin, a Columbus, Ind. resident, was shopping next door to The Inner Chef when she saw the protestors. She decided to stop in, where she bought some cooking supplies and told Easterbrook what she thought of the demonstrators. \n"It's ridiculous," she said. "If you're going to judge somebody, you need to look in your own house before you look in someone else's house."\nThe protestors left promptly at 3:15 p.m., boarding a bus covered in large photographs of aborted fetuses. \nThough Lewis promised to return, Chambers said he is not worried, so long as the demonstration stays peaceful. \n"We see our message as a more positive one," Chambers said. "If they had been on our side of the street, I suggested we just take them coffee. There's no point in responding to evil with evil. Why lower yourself to that way of thinking"