Last night I went to Shank Hall to see folk rocker Melissa Ferrick. On my way in, I noticed the usual group of Anti-Choice protestors in front of the abortion clinic that’s next door to Shank. The protestors, all of whom were men, were doing their usual thing: bleating the occasional bible verse, pacing and holding signs, one of which read “Abortion hurts women.”

I found this humorous.

Clearly, these men pay attention to Shank Hall’s schedule and make a point to show up before gigs, knowing that they’ll have a captive audience. But what they didn’t realize was the fact the audience was predominantly, actually almost entirely, lesbian. (Ferrick has always had a large lesbian following because she is very open about her sexuality as a gay woman, both in her lyrics and interviews.)

Although many lesbians are concerned about women’s’ issues of all kinds, most of them do not have to consider abortion in their personal lives, yet those vigilant protestors stood in the chilly Sunday night air and spewed their message when they could have been at home, enjoying the family they feel everyone must create at all costs.