MINNEAPOLIS — A gay rights activists threw glitter at Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) as she left the stage at the RightOnline conference here Saturday. The “glittering” is not the first glitter-related stunt pulled on a Republican running for president this year.
Get Equal, a California-based gay rights group, claimed responsibility for the glittering, which did not hit Bachmann. A previous glittering aimed at Newt Gingrich was more successful in reaching its target.
Nevertheless, Get Equal called the stunt a success in a release posted on its website. The glitter bomber was identified as Rachel E. B. Lang, a Minnesotan.
She was described in the Get Equal release as “straight and a lawyer in Minneapolis,” with “several gay family members, including her mother and her 75-year-old uncle who recently married his 75-year-old same-sex partner in Iowa.”
After she attempted to glitter Bachmann, Lang yelled “You can run, but you cannot hide!”, which Get Equal says “a reference to the ‘You Can Run But You Cannot Hide’ ministry for which Bachmann has helped raise money and to a proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota.”
In a statement, Lang explained her stunt.
“My response to Michele Bachmann’s hateful and anti-gay rhetoric was light-hearted, but these issues are very serious,” she said. “Bachmann’s support of groups like You Can Run But You Cannot Hide show exactly how extremist she is — she in no way represents the values of Minnesota and certainly does not represent the values of America.”
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is scheduled to speak at RightOnline later Saturday. He’s already been glittered — Code Pink activists doused him in sparkles in San Francisco Friday.
Here’s video of the attempted Bachmann “glittering” from Get Equal: