There was a lot going on today. So much so, it was nearly impossible to find one photograph to bring home what today was all about.
Today, Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, the folks who brought you the "God Hates Fags" website, sent picketers to Massachusetts. They started off their day at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where a vigorous counterprotest took place. After working 16 hours on the overnight shift (getting off at 7 am this morning), I snagged an hour's sleep and Boyfriend drove me into Cambridge to attend (since I was decidedly too tired to drive). My friend Anna came with me. It was enlightening.
It's difficult to explain what the WBC people are about without it sounding like hyperbole. This is a case of truth being stranger than any fiction you could think up. Reverend Fred Phelps, the founder of the congregation, is vehemently anti-gay. His motto is "God hates fags," and he expands this to include "fag enablers," which encompasses almost everybody. WBC pickets schools with gay-straight alliances (like CRLS), gay bars and clubs, Pride celebrations, etc. They've expanded their behavior to activities like picketing military funerals, claiming that the government is full of fag enablers, and that soldier's deaths are God's wrath on the United States. Their website thanks God for the recent school shootings in Germany, the Alabama shooter, and their various "God hates ..." websites continue to multiply. These are just hateful people in the purest sense.
I was stunned when I arrived to see the steps of the school full of people ready to counter WBCs protest. There were so many people, and so much love and support. It filled my heart. Tears came to my eyes. Even Anna said it was touching. I'm proud that I was part of this group of 500-plus people who came together to show these hateful people what tolerance and love is.
Furthermore, I'm resolving not to use the word hate in normal conversation anymore. It is such a loaded and powerful word -- doubtless why this hateful group has latched onto it with such fervor -- that I don't feel comfortable using it anymore. That helped with my final decision to select the photo above to represent today. It put into words the way I feel, having attended this event.
Links:
Fox 25 news link to protest story
CRLS Senior's blog about the event
My flickr set from today
Today, Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, the folks who brought you the "God Hates Fags" website, sent picketers to Massachusetts. They started off their day at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where a vigorous counterprotest took place. After working 16 hours on the overnight shift (getting off at 7 am this morning), I snagged an hour's sleep and Boyfriend drove me into Cambridge to attend (since I was decidedly too tired to drive). My friend Anna came with me. It was enlightening.
It's difficult to explain what the WBC people are about without it sounding like hyperbole. This is a case of truth being stranger than any fiction you could think up. Reverend Fred Phelps, the founder of the congregation, is vehemently anti-gay. His motto is "God hates fags," and he expands this to include "fag enablers," which encompasses almost everybody. WBC pickets schools with gay-straight alliances (like CRLS), gay bars and clubs, Pride celebrations, etc. They've expanded their behavior to activities like picketing military funerals, claiming that the government is full of fag enablers, and that soldier's deaths are God's wrath on the United States. Their website thanks God for the recent school shootings in Germany, the Alabama shooter, and their various "God hates ..." websites continue to multiply. These are just hateful people in the purest sense.
I was stunned when I arrived to see the steps of the school full of people ready to counter WBCs protest. There were so many people, and so much love and support. It filled my heart. Tears came to my eyes. Even Anna said it was touching. I'm proud that I was part of this group of 500-plus people who came together to show these hateful people what tolerance and love is.
Furthermore, I'm resolving not to use the word hate in normal conversation anymore. It is such a loaded and powerful word -- doubtless why this hateful group has latched onto it with such fervor -- that I don't feel comfortable using it anymore. That helped with my final decision to select the photo above to represent today. It put into words the way I feel, having attended this event.
Links:
Fox 25 news link to protest story
CRLS Senior's blog about the event
My flickr set from today
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