2012 Republican Convention: Protesters Dressed as Vaginas Greet Delegates (Video)

Pro-choice protesters accost delegates at the Republican National Convention as they arrive to party with country star Rodney Atkins.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Giant, walking vaginas have descended upon the Republican National Convention.

Several demonstrators from the feminist group Code Pink wore frilly pink costumes while others adorned with cardboard cutouts resembling the sexual organ were milling about Sunday looking for Republicans.

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A Florida website called Shark-Tank.net captured video of some of them during their preparation (video below). The protesters carried signs saying such things as, “Read my lips. Leave my vagina alone,” and argued that pro-life Republicans are waging a war against women.

But with the official proceedings, along with two Lynyrd Skynyrd concerts and the premiere of an anti-Occupy Wall Street movie canceled Sunday and Monday due to weather, it wasn’t until Sunday night at The Welcome Event that the protesters found a large group of Republicans to confront.

As several thousand conventioneers arrived in buses at Tropicana Field, an indoor stadium where baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays play, they were met by about 400 protesters -- some of whom were in their vagina costumes. By that time, though, convention-goers hardly took notice of the crowd, and well-armed police and military personnel kept the demonstrators away from the party inside the stadium.

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Inside, delegates chanted the Pledge of Allegiance and sang along to "God Bless America." Many wore red, white and blue, and some dressed in unusual costumes of their own: cavalry uniforms, kilts and, Tampa Bay being the home of the NFL’s Buccaneers, more than a few pirate outfits.

There were even a few Democrats roaming the floor, some obtaining credentials through the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission.



The show included short sets from American Idol alum Shannon Magrane and The Voice veteran Karla Davis.

Headlining was Rodney Atkins, singing songs about “freedom, family and the good Lord -- and the right to bear arms.”

Keeping his set family-friendly throughout, Atkins even cleaned up some fairly harmless lyrics (“bustin’ our asses" became “bustin’ our backs”) and earned some of the loudest applause when he toasted “the men and the women at home and abroad defending this country” before launching into his song "If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)."

Email: Paul.Bond@thr.com