All I can say to Hickey is, "Get real!"

Liberty City Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club, of which I am a member, called for a boycott of 12th Street Gym when some members found out that Guzzardi has been a donor to conservative Republicans across the country, like Rep. Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado, whose only claim to fame is her support of anti-gay legislation, and of course, our own Santorum. In a rare moment of real victory, the threat of a boycott scared Guzzardi into selling his share of the business to someone who wasn't so Republican and the boycott's kickoff night became a victory rally instead.

I attended and spoke at the rally as director of Philadelphians Against Santorum, a strategic and fun attempt to get out as many new and infrequent voters as possible to beat Santorum in the fall.

Hickey criticized our rally because, in his words, "a heck of a lot of people who say they have a problem with Guzzardi's politics today had no problem patronizing his business."

Gee, Brian—thanks for pointing out that hypocrisy exists in the gay community! LGBT people do not act together in unison. We are diverse individuals who make our own choices. Just because because some of us continued to go to the 12th Street Gym, even after it was revealed that Guzzardi has given to rabidly anti-gay Republicans, doesn't mean that others should not stand up and denounce him.

Hickey's other criticism of the protest was that "like most things in a big election year, the boycott call was nothing but a ploy to rally support for a candidate, in this case our cover boy, Bob Casey Jr. The gimmick was as ethical as Santorum rallying his deep-conservative base by equating homosexuality with bestiality, even though he has to realize deep down that it's not the same."

First and foremost, Liberty City, Philly for Change and Philly Against Santorum, individually, each went through their own tortured endorsement process. In the end, each organization decided pointedly not to endorse Casey because he is not yet the candidate we want to support. That will hopefully change in the fall if Casey can show Philadelphia that he will stand up for our values, but until then, we're all just running against Santorum. Beyond that, Hickey misses the point—our rally was not a media stunt designed to get reporters like him to praise the virtues of Casey. It was born out of the genuine anger that each of our members have for Santorum and those who put him in power. For those of us lucky enough to cut our teeth in the 2004 election, and especially for those who are young, we learned that anger and motivation for change can be channeled into getting out the vote and winning, as we did in Pennsylvania against Bush. Last Monday night was not a stunt; it was a shot across the bow.

Our rally was a reminder to potential voters, donors and volunteers that angry and active Philadelphians are doing everything in their power to organize early to beat Santorum by pulling the carpet out from under him however we can. It was also a reminder to local business owners, like Richard Hayne at Urban Outfitters, that we will be informing all of our members about the choices their local businesses make in terms of political contributions. We're just exercising our right to free speech.

Anyway, all this fuss is beside the point: In order to beat Santorum, we need to have as many people on the street, pulling voters out to the polls. Philadelphia has to achieve 60 percent or higher voter turnout. If you believe this and want to help, please sign up to volunteer at www.phillyagainstsantorum.org and I'll put you to work.

Ray Murphy is the director of Philadelphians Against Santorum and blogger for YoungPhillyPolitics.com, where a version of this piece first appeared.