Protesters gathered this afternoon on the northwest corner of 441 and Palmetto Park Road, motivated at least in part by the opening of the Hobby Lobby in West Boca Square. Our best estimate is that there were 30 people there, though there more may have come after we left.
As we drove in we saw this woman telling people to “Get a new hobby.”
There were a number of other motivated people there:
We had a pleasant conversation on the scene with Laura Goodhue, who is a VP with the local Planned Parenthood organization:
We asked Ms. Goodhue about the fact that Hobby Lobby’s main competitor, Michael’s, is owned by Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital. She said the protest was not about Hobby Lobby and they are not advocating for a boycott of the store. She said this was more about making people aware of women’s rights, particularly involving healthcare. She talked about political candidates and made clear that Governor candidate Charlie Crist is more in line with their views than the incumbent, Rick Scott.
When we asked Ms. Goodhue about the distinction between an individual’s rights against the government, as compared to an employee’s rights against their employer, and that employer’s rights against the government. The contrast is between the government’s power to actually ban something, and an employer’s refusal to pay for something. She didn’t give a straight answer to the question.
When we first arrived we saw a protester inside the plaza on the sidewalk right in front of the store. By the time we left he was gone and there were two Sheriff’s vehicles along the sidewalk.
The deputies were speaking with the store managers. We asked if they had removed the protester and one of the deputies said that they were “just keeping the peace.” We asked store management about the protest and also again about whether and when they would be carrying merchandise for the Jewish holidays. Like Ms. Goodhue they did not give a straight answer to those questions.
As we left we saw a few more protesters at the exit:
And to be fair, we did see one counter-protester, out on the median of 441:
