When the internet discovered one amazing American husband and wife's Saturday hobby – counter-picketing abortion clinics in North Carolina with frankly hilarious signs and blogging about it – two weeks ago, Grayson and Tina Haver Currin become instant viral stars, praised for their cheeky activism. Now, it seems it's activism that's spread, as the pair have spoken out to say others have started joining their ranks.
Grayson and Tina's mission started out simply emough. Wherever pro-lifers gathered to crowd the entrance of the clinics with signs reading ‘BABIES ARE MURDERED HERE’, the Raleigh couple would also turn up with signs of their own. Signs that succinctly showed exactly what they thought of the protestors message:
'It started on a bit of a whim,' Tina writes on her Tumblr Saturday Morning Chores of the project's origin. 'Grayson and I both grew up not too far away, and we’ve seen the clinic in question hundreds of times. But for some reason, on this morning in particular, the protesters got under our skin a little more than normal. Grayson suggested that we make a sign that said ‘Weird Hobby’ and point at one of the protesters. We tried to buy poster board at Home Depot, but they don’t carry it. As we were leaving, I ripped a vinyl sale sign off of a display and took a Sharpie to it. We posted the results to Instagram and Facebook, and people flipped.'
Tina has admitted to US Cosmopolitan that whilst humour is at the heart of their activism, that hasn't made it easy personally. 'They talk at us constantly. Constantly! The first time we went, I asked four times, with increasing quiver in my voice, for them to please leave me alone,' she says about the reaction they get from protestors. 'They finally obliged, only after Grayson stepped between us and asked a little less politely. They tell us we're terrible sinners, we're going to hell, we secretly love God, etc. They ask how many abortions I've had — none, actually — if we're atheists — yeah, totally — and why we're even bothering — because it bothers you, duh!'
Still, the pair have been encouraged by the groundswell of support they've had in the two weeks since their Tumblr went viral. 'Some people were asking [how they could help], so we decided that this weekend we'd get there before the pro-life people do, show up with enough people to crowd them out, and do it the whole time. We'll be there probably five hours and have enough people that [the anti-abortion protesters] don't have a chance to show their signs. We would love to see this more humorous take on combating these hateful things spread,' Tina says.
She's right. It's certainly a novel and no doubt more effective way to combat the in-places batshit crazy US abortion laws - and a debate over women's control of their bodies that can get pretty toxic.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.