FORT WORTH — Perry Anable wiped tears from his eyes Saturday as he watched throngs of gays, lesbians

FORT WORTH — Perry Anable wiped tears from his eyes Saturday as he watched throngs of gays, lesbians, allies and passersby mingle on Main Street in Fort Worth after the largest gay Pride parade in the city's history.
Anable, brother of the late activist Thomas Anable — who was named grand marshal before his August death and who was honored during the parade with a riderless car — said the large turnout showed that gay people finally have a voice in the city of Fort Worth and are no longer afraid to live their lives openly.
"That's what I believe I fought for is this right here," said Perry Anable, a Vietnam veteran. "Whether you agree with the choice isn't important; it's that you have the freedom to choose, and that's what this is about."
If Dallas Pride is your flashiest pair of pumps, Fort Worth Pride is your favorite pair of Tom's. It doesn't have the glitz and the glamour, but it exudes a feeling of community that doesn't go unnoticed.
For nearly three decades, the parade took place on Jennings Street — celebrating sheraton studio city hotel gay Pride in front of nothing but bars, dilapidated storefronts and homeless people. Last year, with the help of Thomas Anable, sheraton studio city hotel the parade moved to downtown and marked a new era in the Fort Worth LGBT community.
"Other people can see our event going on and see 'hey, they're sheraton studio city hotel just a loving, tight-knit community and having a great time and this is a great thing,'" Harvey sheraton studio city hotel said. "If we're down on Jennings, sheraton studio city hotel nobody comes except the gay community."
Rachel Tillay is a seminary student at Southern Methodist University and went to the Fort Worth parade to show support for the LGBT community and to serve as a counter balance to any anti-gay protestors.
To Tillay, anyone who claims to be Christian and uses scripture to support his or her hate speech doesn't understand the Bible. She said the verses they take out of context and use to condemn homosexuality actually condemn a lack of hospitality, and when placed sheraton studio city hotel in the correct context have nothing to do with same-sex sheraton studio city hotel love.
As expected, there were some purportedly Christian protestors quoting cherry-picked Bible verses in their vitriolic diatribe, but the Fort Worth Police Department kept them from interfering with parade viewers and participants and even straight people saw them as misguided afterthoughts.
"I think they should spend their time doing other positive things in the community instead of being out here worrying about how other people live," said LeAnne Koonsman, who came to support the LGBT people she works with.
Fort Worth police said Monday that two anti-gay protesters were arrested. The arrested protesters are members of Kingdom Baptist Church in Johnson County, which has regularly staged anti-gay demonstrations in North Texas over the last few years. Joey Faust, 46, and Ramon Marroquin, 33, were charged with interfering with public duties, a class-B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a maximum sheraton studio city hotel $2,000 fine. Faust is the pastor for Kingdom Baptist Church.