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Westboro Baptist Church Tours New England
Westboro Baptist Church Tours New England
by Barbara Dozetos
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photo: Barb Dozetos |
A dozen members of the Rev. Fred Phelps’ venomous anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church have completed a ‘picketing ministry’ tour of New England.
On stops in Kennebunk, Maine; Montpelier, Vt.; and Exeter, N.H. members of the congregation made up largely of the Phelps family brandished signs reading “Thank God for AIDS,” “Fags Die God Laughs,” and the infamous catch phrase for the group, “God Hates Fags.”
The reverend’s 13-year-old granddaughter, Rebecca Phelps-Roper, and her 11-year-old brother Isaiah helped their mother, Shirley, wave signs and hurl verbal slurs at counter-protestors at each site. “There are fags in the U.S., here and everywhere else, and it’s an abomination,” the younger child told reporters in Montpelier.
A group of barely a dozen counter protestors were on hand in Montpelier. Discussions on Mountain Pride Media’s VTPridenet listserv reflected the GLBT community’s unwillingness to give Phelp’s message credibility by even showing up.
Several expressed dismay at involving children in the so-called ministry. “This is nothing short of child abuse,” said one Vermonter, “It’s criminal.”
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photo: Barb Dozetos |
Barbara Emerson of Burlington made trips to Montpelier and Kennebunk. “I needed to tell people we’re not going to put up with this,” she said. “People need to see that most people of faith do not agree with what these people are saying.”
The Topeka, Kan. based group targeted a church in Maine for its support of the state’s ballot measure that would have made discrimination based upon sexual orientation illegal, had it passed. The Vermont stop was to demonstrate disapproval of the state’s civil union law.
In New Hampshire, it was Phillips Exeter Academy under fire from the Westboro representatives. The preparatory school changed its policies this summer to allow gay and lesbian faculty and staff to serve as dorm parents.
In no location was the group joined by locals supporting their message.