No issues developed after a pair of protests in Americus on Thursday — one decrying a North Lyon County Junior High student saying she was a lesbian on a bus ride home last month, one to shield students from the first protest.
Parasol Patrol founders Pasha Ripley and Eli Bazan organized a counter protest on behalf of student Izzy Dieker after members of Westboro Baptist Church said they would protest outside the junior high. Group co-founder Pasha Ripley says she could relate to what Dieker may be going through.
Church members protested across the street from the school, with a group of motorcycle riders nearby. Immediate supporters of the Parasol Patrol initially started along Main Street, about a block away, before moving closer to the school.
The story of Izzy Dieker has been in the news for most of the month after she made the comment on a bus ride home last month and was told she couldn’t ride for a week because of foul language and disobeying the driver. Dieker’s parents say those concerns were allayed after watching bus video, but the use of the word lesbian was still considered inappropriate. The district is investigating that incident and is not commenting beyond that.
An estimated 60 people were outside the school for the protests.
