Medford teacher Tania Tong never imagined that a few words on a T-shirt would propel her onto the national political stage.

Tong, 34, and two other local women were escorted out of President George Bush’s rally in Central Point Thursday because they wore T-shirts that stated, "Protect our civil liberties."

"I think that it’s ironic," she said. "We had this non-offensive statement about protecting our civil liberties, but our civil liberties were denied."

Since then, the three women have appeared on television, their stories have been retold in newspapers throughout the country, and they have been the subject of talk radio discussions.

"It’s been kind of exhausting," said Tong. "It’s been taking up a lot of time. At the same time, the three of us think it’s important what happened to us."

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Tong went to the rally with her sister, Candice Julian, and Janet Voorhies, who is in training to become a teacher.

Referring to the publicity, Voorhies, 38, said, "It’s crazy. We never imagined it."

Julian, 32, also a Medford teacher, said, "We don’t like the limelight very much."

The women said they decided to wear the T-shirts after hearing news reports of people being kicked out of Bush rallies elsewhere.

They are dismayed by some recent talk radio shows describing them as un-American, or not choosing the proper forum to express their opinions.

"What is so un-American about wanting to participate in the democratic process?" said Tong.

Julian said, "When is the right forum for this? When do I get to take my message to the president?"

The women said they didn’t try to conceal the T-shirts, walking from the Burger King on Peninger Road to the Jackson County Expo, clearing the checkpoints as they made their way to their places at the rally.

"We didn’t try to hide anything," said Julian.

They said they didn’t have any buttons showing support for Sen. John Kerry, and they didn’t plan to say anything when the president spoke.

"It was going to be a silent statement," said Julian.

"We didn’t cover anything, and we didn’t want to cover anything up," said Voorhies.

Before they reached their places, they were approached by security personnel. Julian tried to put her ticket behind her back, but it was snatched from her hand, she said. Voorhies also had her ticket taken away.

Tong said she hid her ticket in her clothing so it wouldn’t be taken away.

The three women were told that if they didn’t leave peaceably, they would be arrested for disorderly conduct.

Bryan Platt, chairman of the Jackson County Republican Central Committee, said he didn’t personally witness the incident at the fairgrounds, but stood 100 percent behind the person who made the security decision to exclude the women.

"I don’t buy the notion that they came in with innocent intent," said Platt.

After all the publicity over the incident, including a condemnation by Terry MacAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Platt said, "Obviously, it is a partisan ploy."

He said this sort of behavior shows a lack of class on the part of some Democrats. "Republicans don’t see a need to disrupt the Kerry events," he said.

He did agree that the event wasn’t open to just anyone.

"It’s essentially a closed event for people interested in hearing the president and his message," he said. "If it was me, I probably would have been more inclusive."

Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, stated in an e-mail: "Nobody on staff can remember the incident or understand why they would have been removed unless there was reason to believe that they were disruptive or were planning to be disruptive."

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com