Protesters Blocking Traffic

We all have issues we're fanatic about but protesters who block the flow of traffic in order to force everyone to pay attention to their cause are simply inconsiderate boors.  Their issue might have no relevance to the people they're holding hostage.

A few years ago the Right To Life protesters hung huge banners of aborted fetuses over the highway bridges which forced drivers and their children to view the atrocity.  Did it help their cause or did it make people angry at their bullying tactics?  Protesters do walk a fine line as to whether they'll be promoting their cause or turning people away from it.

Also, a few years ago, I was held up in bumper to bumper traffic at the downtown core while a small ragtag group of people promoting the LGBT rights held a parade.  Did it make anyone more LGBT tolerant or accepting?  I only know how it made me feel.  The little group was made up of a few street kids and a few very ugly males dressed in female clothing and I thought it both laughable and pitiful.  I also wondered why the police would allow this tiny group to inconvenience a few hundred people and tie the downtown core into knots.

Protesters who have a legitimate beef, even if I don't agree with them, might draw me to pay attention to their cause if they protest in a polite, considerate manner.  There certainly are issues many of us tend to ignore until they're brought to our attention.  If they're screaming, rioting, and blocking traffic, they've lost me completely because I have no respect for protesters who behave like this.

Change happens all the time.  Today's morals and mores might be intolerable a few years from now.  Protesters who present their desire for change in a civilized manner will most often succeed but the ones who riot and vandalize only hurt their cause.