Deidre’s Story – I remember the day I received my flyer in the mail. It was a regular weekday. I had dropped my daughter off at school and came back home. I grabbed the mail like I do every morning and proceeded to go inside my house. When I opened the flyer I fell to my step. First it was complete pain and despair. On December 17, 2017 I had a miscarriage. My little girl and I were so excited for “our” baby. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through in my entire life and I almost didn’t make it through my grief. Seeing this flyer brought me back to that day in 2017. I probably cried for most of the day. Then I got angry. How dare these people put this disgusting propaganda into my mailbox! Not long after my friend Katie Dean started the VDLC. The first time I went out to a street corner to counter protest my adrenaline was pumping… I was so angry. I did stay calm and try to have a conversation with Andrew which got me nowhere. I ended up leaving in tears because I still couldn’t handle the images. It took some time but I was able to go back out and counter protest again. I can’t tell you how many women young girls and even men and young guys thanked me and thanked us for being out on the street trying to block these images. An elderly woman came up to me at the corner of Oxford and Richmond on a morning when it was absolutely freezing and snowing and said “a long time ago we fought long and hard for these rights and nobody can take them away. ”That same morning I covered Andrews sign as a mom and her young daughter were trying to cross the street. She too thanked me. I know that we can’t protect everyone from these signs but we try our hardest
Image is Deidre and Tyler holding a banner at the City Hall Campaign kick-off.