As Howie Carr led his first study group at the Institute of Politics (IOP) yesterday on the art of political satire, about 20 protesters outside the building picketed the outspoken Boston Herald columnist.

The protesters, representatives of the Perspective, the Harvard-Radcliffe Democrats and the Gay and Lesbian Students Association (GLSA), charged that Carr was an inappropriate choice as a study group leader because of what they described as "homophobic" commentary he has written.

The protesters passed out copies of a September 25 column by Carr which railed against a proposed gay bar slated to open across the street from one of Carr's favorite watering holes.

"What a revoltin' development this is," Carr wrote of the proposed gay bar. Carr's column runs three times a week in the Herald.

Toting signs which read "Harvard won't tolerate intolerance" and "Howie Carr, you've gone too far," the protesters urged students to boycott the study group and criticized the IOP for inviting the controversial columnist to teach the group, which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoons this fall.

But the boycott may have been more of a plug for the study group than a drawback, as 43 people attended Carr's introductory meeting, anunusually large crowd for a not-for-credit studysession.

Yet the protesters said they considered thepicketing a success because its aim was to informprospective study group members of Carr's stance.

Several of the students who attended the studygroup said they had not been aware of the columnor of Carr's comments about gays until yesterday'sprotest. But they said his views would not deterthem from attending the group. Two Kennedy Schoolstudents who said they had not heard of Carrentered the class after seeing the protestoutside.

Carr, who walked by the protesters unhinderedas he entered the Kennedy School, said the picketdid not bother him. "I don't mind. They have theirFirst Amendment rights just as I have mine," hesaid.

When asked if the homophobic charges wereaccurate, Carr said, "I stand by my column."

The organizers of the protest originally hadcalled on the IOP to rescind its invitation toCarr, but they withdrew that demand after meetingwith student and staff representatives responsiblefor the study groups, said Mark A. Merante '88,the president of Perspective, Harvard's liberalmonthly journal.

The IOP based its refusal to withdraw Carr'sinvitation on concern for his First Amendmentrights, according to a letter dated yesterday andsent to the protest organizers by David Runkel,associate director of the IOP. The IOP invitedCarr last May to conduct the semester-long studygroup