Two members of the anti-war group CODEPINK showered Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty with glitter during a book signing in San Francisco Thursday.

Protesters Nancy Mancias and Chelsea Byers threw pink glitter and confetti at Pawlenty as he signed copies of his book, "Courage to Stand." A police officer quickly escorted them out of the Moscone Center. Pawlenty, an opponent of health care reform, was signing books at the American Health Insurance Plans conference, which was held at the center.

“Where's your courage to stand for gay rights and reproductive rights, huh, Tim Pawlenty?” Mancias shouted.

In January, Pawlenty said that he would support reinstating the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which had prevented gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military and which Congress repealed last year.

Pawlenty's campaign did not respond to an email from The Bay Citizen about Thursday's incident.

Mancias, who is a CODEPINK campaign organizer, said the protest seemed to catch the candidate off-guard.

“He sort of looked at us and had this look of 'Oh, no,'” she said. “I don't think anyone expected what was coming.”

Mancias said CODEPINK got the idea for the Pawlenty protest from another protester, Nick Espinosa, who threw glitter on Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich during a book signing in Minneapolis in May. In the video of the protest, which was posted on YouTube, Espinosa can be heard telling Gingrich to “stop the hate, stop the anti-gay politics." (The protest begins about 38 seconds in.)

“We were inspired by Nick Espinosa and did the same to Tim Pawlenty,” Mancias said. “Some of these people are so hard to reach, we have to use this to get our message out, confronting them in this fashion.” 

Mancias said she doubts Pawlenty's views on gay and reproductive rights will be affected by it. But she said it will likely bring attention to the candidate's position and said she hopes others will use glitter as a tool for advocacy.

“It's nonviolent and it looks great,” Mancias said. “It's just disarming. How can you be mad at anybody who throws glitter?"