Another Way To Stage a Counter-Protest Against Westboro Baptist Church

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Guest Contributor

When Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church come to your town to protest outside a funeral or near some site of tragedy, there are many ways to counter-protest.

At the University of Chicago last month, some students had clever signs:

protestwestboro

They also staged a fundraiser while they were at it.

But I’m thinking this form of protest might be more effective…:

phelpsgay

I still think I’ll stick with the signs… but that’s just me.

(via My[confined]Space)

This entry was posted in General, GLBT, Humor. Bookmark the permalink.
  • weaves

    I think the westbaro need to look to their “greed” issues…bit more than just gut happening there.

  • http://blaghag.blogspot.com/ Jennifurret

    I think ridiculous anti-gay protesters actually make me want to make out with a girl more, just to spite them. I don’t think my female friends will buy that excuse though, haha.

  • Josh

    Is it just me, or does two people wearing glasses kissing just look incredibly awkward and uncomfortable?

  • Ty

    That is AWESOME.

    I’ve never tongue kissed a guy before, but I’d do it in front of the Phelps clan.

    I’m committing to it. If the Phelps clan ever do a protest within driving range of me, I will go and try to find an easy going gay guy who will let me kiss him in front of them.

    Good job, Phelps. You are actually making a straight guy angry enough to protest by kissing men. Is this what you wanted?

  • Hank Bones

    Josh said:

    Is it just me, or does two people wearing glasses kissing just look incredibly awkward and uncomfortable?

    What do you have against people with similarly deficient eyesight showing their affection in public? Stop trying to keep people with glasses in the closet! First we get called “four-eyes” and now this! We can’t help it, alright? This isn’t a choice, it’s just how we are! I can’t help it if I wear glasses and am attracted to people who also wear glasses. Sure, I could try to live with someone who has perfect 20/20 vision, but I would just be living a lie.

    Your hatred hurts Josh. This site is called Friendly Atheist. Not Hateful Atheist.

  • anonymouse

    HA! My favorites were “God Plays Laser Tag” and “God Shoulda Put A Ring On It”. Awesome.

  • Hank Bones

    I was going to post some of their scheduled picketing engagements, but they have to many coming up. If you are in NV, CA, MA, or FL, they have quite a few over the next couple of months in your state.

    Oh, and Hemant, you might want to organize something for this one:
    03/13/2090 09:45 AM – 10:30 AM Maryville, IL First Baptist Church of Maryville.

    I’m not sure where Maryville is, but it could be an interesting event.

    sigh I cant spend any more time at their website. Its just to full of misplaced rage. And bad grammar.

  • http://cycleninja.blogspot.com Paul Lundgren

    We need a full-on drag show. Or a gym full of bodybuilders oiling each other up. Let’s REALLY gross these people out.

  • newbee

    Are those guys for real?
    I live in Germany and i just looked at their website(http://blogs.godhatesamerica.com/) and thought of it as a hillarious satire of all the radical christian groups…
    This is so ridiculus I just can’t believe it…

  • J Myers

    newbee, these folks have a long, despicable track record demonstrating just how serious they are.

  • http://noadi.blogspot.com Noadi

    Oh no, they’re for real. That’s the truly scary thing. They really do protest with horrible signs celebrating the deaths of soldiers and others.

  • Larry Huffman

    Newbee…Sadly, that group is for real. The Phelps used to scare me…when they first arrived on the scene…and I was a fundy back then. Now…they are just a joke.

    I personally think the over-the-top methods…and the utterly intolerant mesages of the Phels are even too much for most christians.

    I definitely think protesting their protest with clever signs, or gay make-outs is a great way to protest. I am going to check their schedule and see if I can crash one of their ‘love-fests’ here in Cali.

    And yes…two people making out with glasses is uncomfortable. I have worn glasses my whole life…my wife only recently began. We have problems with it, not the least of which is getting the glasses locked up together.

  • JSug

    newbee: Depends on your definition of “for real.” They definitely do show up all over the place preaching hate and bigotry. But I have heard it suggested that their real motivations are more financial than moral. Fred Phelps, who founded the church, was a civil rights lawyer in the ’60s, and many of his family members are also lawyers. They take great delight in suing the pants off anyone who interferes with their right to protest peacefully. Hence their signs and protests are designed to offend as many people as possible.

    As far as counter-protesting Phelps and the WBC, nothing can compare to what Michael Moore did, back when he had his own TV show:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra_fAYl4Th4 (the WBC segment starts around 2:45)

  • Jen

    I think the frat strippers from University of Chicago were pretty awesome to read about. So you clearly have more than two options: kissing, nudity, or signs. Ooooh! And a la Michael Moore: dancing by the big ol pink bus o gay. Four options. One is boring. You may pick now.

  • Spurs Fan

    What do you have against people with similarly deficient eyesight showing their affection in public? Stop trying to keep people with glasses in the closet! First we get called “four-eyes” and now this! We can’t help it, alright? This isn’t a choice, it’s just how we are! I can’t help it if I wear glasses and am attracted to people who also wear glasses. Sure, I could try to live with someone who has perfect 20/20 vision, but I would just be living a lie.

    Your hatred hurts Josh. This site is called Friendly Atheist. Not Hateful Atheist.

    That’s hilarious. Hank, as a straight male with 20/20 vision, I want to make it clear that I fully support everyone’s right to love, including those of different sexual orientation and/or er, inferior eyesight. :)

  • GullWatcher

    I’m don’t know if this is true or not, but if it is, it certainly would explain how they can continue to operate after that $11 million judgement against them. The link is here, and it alleges that the whole thing is a money-making scam. I wish the author had made a better case and actually cited some lawsuits that they were involved in (as complainants). I don’t even know if it makes it worse or better, if they aren’t sincere and it’s just for the money. Worst of both worlds?

  • Claudia

    On of the pictures shows a frat house with a sign. It does not do the back story justice. These guy put on quite a show for the Phelps brood. They are a fraternity not exactly known for their enlightened attitude, making the video all the more awesome.

    The Phelps’, bringing the world together as always.

  • lurker111

    Here’s a link to an article showing a counterprotest by Pastafarians:

    http://www.venganza.org/2008/11/26/westboro-counter-protest/

    Worth reading if you haven’t seen it before.

  • http://themousesnest.blogspot.com Mouse

    *Many* years ago, that clan protested a reading at a local, independent bookstore by a lesbian author. A number of the people there for the reading went outside, held hands, and sang hymns to drown out the hateful voices. I just watched, being an atheist and not knowing the words and all.

  • JD

    These guys have visited SUNY Plattsburgh twice, my undergrad uni. Once was to oppose our openly gay mayor, the other time was to protest a Mathew Sheppard documentary. I don’t think the town had ever been so united across every line.

  • RainbowFish

    My absolute favorite stories to read (haven’t made it to an actual event yet) are the Phelps-a-Thons, where people are asked to pledge some amount of money (like a nickel, quarter, dollar, whatever) to GLTB charities for every minute the WBC is protesting. The longer they go, the more money the “fags” make. Thanks for your support, haters!

  • Tyler

    Your hatred hurts Josh. This site is called Friendly Atheist. Not Hateful Atheist.

    Hey Hank Bones,
    I think Josh was just trying to be conversational, i wouldn’t take it too personally that he just thought two people kissing with glasses looked awkward.

  • http://zerogov.com/?p=1597 Zero Gov » Blog Archive » In Defense of Scoundrels by Kaiser L

    [...] in defense of the hearts and minds of the WBC’s targets at funerals. Hemant Mehta over at friendlyatheist.com points to another excellent method for countering the WBC’s protests [...]

  • Edward

    Usually seeing men make out doesn’t make me want to stand up and clap. First time for everything, I suppose.