Prominent anti-gay protester Rev. Grant
Storms was convicted Wednesday in New Orleans on charges of
obscenity.
Storms is known for his bullhorn
protests of the city's annual Southern Decadence festival in the
French Quarter. The festival is considered one of the world's
largest gay-themed events.
Last year, police arrested the
55-year-old Storms after two women reported him masturbating in the
driver's seat of his van at Lafreniere Park.
According to The
Times-Picayune, Storms waived his right to a jury and Judge
Ross LaDart presided over the daylong trial. LaDart found Storms
guilty and sentenced him to three years of probation.
In announcing the verdict, LaDart said
Lafreniere Park is a public place “that was chosen by this
defendant to engage in a history of masturbation.”
Storms declined to testify, but in his
confession to police he insisted that he only touched himself inside
his underwear and never exposed himself. He described public
masturbation as “a thrill.”
Southern Decadence draws tens of
thousands to New Orleans for a gay party that lasts the entire Labor
Day weekend.
Storms has led marches in protest of
the festival. In 2003, he organized a march in opposition of the
event, which he called “nasty” and “depraved.” Storms and
his followers picketed the festival with signs that read “Adam &
Eve NOT Adam & Steve” and loud protests amplified with
bullhorns.