COSTA MESA : Protest Planned at Comedian’s Show

Members of ACT UP Orange County say they won’t be laughing tonight when controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay takes the stage for his sold-out performance at the Pacific Amphitheatre.

The group will be out in force before the show begins at 7:30 p.m. to protest Clay’s slurs toward women and gays, ACT UP member Kelly Cowger said Friday.

“He’s a gay basher,” said Cowger, 20, a student from Santa Ana. “He advocates violence toward women, and he’s also a bigot.”

ACT UP--AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power--will be joined at the protest by two local chapters of the National Organization for Women, she said.

By protesting against Clay while people are arriving for the performance, ACT UP hopes people will realize that the comedian’s humor denigrates people who don’t fit the white, male, straight mold, said Dave Barton, 30, an ACT UP member from Orange.

Hopefully, Cowger said, the protest will cause some of his fans to question what Clay is saying.

“We hope people will become more sensitized and people will become more responsible for what they choose to laugh at,” she said.