About a dozen people gathered in the Castro District of San Francisco Tuesday evening to mark the death of Jerry Falwell. Falwell, the folksy, small-town preacher who used the power of television to found the Moral Majority and turn the Christian right into a mighty force in American politics during the Reagan years, died Tuesday at 73. Michael Petrelis organized the so-called "anti-memorial" and said gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders said would speak out about Falwell's past efforts to demonize the gay community. A makeshift grave was surrounded by an assortment of signs, rainbow flags and teletubbies dolls at Castro and 18th streets. One signed read, "Falwell dies, but the rainbow lives."
At least one person danced on the makeshift grave. Petrelis said he organized the event because Falwell "spent a number of decades working to deny gays full equality."
Sen. John McCain praised Falwell as "a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country." As McCain and other GOP presidential candidates prepared for a debate, they took time to remember Falwell. McCain was the commencement speaker last year at Falwell's Liberty University -- after making peace with Falwell. Six years earlier, in a campaign speech, he had included Falwell in a group he described as "agents of intolerance."
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney described Falwell Tuesday as "an American who built and led a movement based on strong principles and strong faith." And, after a tour of the debate site Tuesday in South Carolina, Rudy Giuliani told reporters that Falwell "was a man who set a direction" -- and someone who was "not afraid to speak his mind."