Hundreds turn out against Westboro Baptists: Counter rally held in support of Towson HighNick DiMarco 2 April 2009 [Online Editors’ Note: This article was published in The Towerlight on 2 April 2009 (pp. 7, 11). While the author might not be himself a libertarian, we felt this article may be of interest to libertarian student readers, and thus are including it here.] The last time members of the Westboro Baptist Church visited Towson was to protest Michael Phelps during a parade held in his honor. On Monday, a small contingent of five WBC members stood at the corner of Hillside Avenue and York Road held an “educational picket” against the Gay Straight Alliance group at Around them stood about a dozen Baltimore County Police officers. Across the street students and community members outnumbered them, in the hundreds. Alex Ghinger, 18, started the GSA at Towson High School two years ago as an outlet and support group for gay youth. He, along with the help of a friend, organized the anti-protest. “It was incredible, it was amazing…. It was so personal for me. Don’t do this to me on my turf. It was my baby and I had to protect it,” Ghinger, GSA president, said of the anti-protest. “It helps to show people from the school that it is ok and if they want to be who they are, they can be.” As the high school let out shortly after 2 p.m., more students joined the already boisterous crowd. The anti-protesters’ chants of “hate go home” and “God is love” as well as the honking of car horns on a congested street, drowned out the snide comments of the Baptists. In recent years, the religious sect from Westboro has rallied against military funerals for fallen soldiers, the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy and the presidential election of Barack Obama. “You’re looking at the face of good for absolutely nothing,” Shirley Phelps-Roper, WBC spokeswoman, said. “Every child is entitled to hear the truth of God at least once in their life. Their parents have failed them. Their teachers have failed them, everywhere they go. We’re here to connect the dots.” Phelps-Roper is the daughter of Fred Phelps, the founder of the WBC. The Silent Witness Peacekeeper Alliance, another faith-based religious group, was present to counter the WBC message. “I think it’s sad that a group comes in and protests against LGBT people. It’s very painful to watch, yet I was very pleased to see these anti-protesters for the most part behave themselves and stand in solidarity with LGBT people,” Alanna Berger, executive director for Silent Witness, said. In a rare instance, Towson students and community members stood together, united on an issue. One mother was seen holding a sign that read “I am proud of my gay son.” Towson diver Bradley Bolin attended the protest as a member of Towson’s Queer Student Union. Bolin started a Gay Straight Alliance at his high school in California. “These people are affecting younger gay people and children in general. I don’t want them to see these people and think ‘oh, everyone hates me,’ because that is not right and that is not OK,” Bolin said. The WBC has a list of places where they plan to picket on its Web site. At the end of the Towson protest press release is the phrase, “God hates Maryland.” “I preach the Bible. If you call that hate, woe onto you,” Phelps-Roper said. As one of the church members left, she smiled and waved to the crowd. Berger considered the WBC’s actions as examples of extreme hate. She said members of her organization would participate in a “spiritual detox” following the picket. “Watching this level of spiritual violence is actually very toxic some people…. We talk about what happened and try to process it,” she said. |
Towson High School.