Making a Stand: LGBT Students Stand Up to Westboro Baptist Church
Though same-sex marriage was legalized nationally on June 26, 2015, it has not been accepted by all groups of people. The Westboro Baptist Church, a well-known antilesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) church based in Kansas, protested Redondo Union High School’s (RUHS) Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club on Jan. 11. Five Westboro members came to RUHS and protested, holding signs casting phrases such as “God hates proud sinners” and “God brought the drought.”
Since rising to national attention in 1998 when it picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man beaten to death because of his homosexuality, the Westboro Baptist Church has become known for its discriminatory and hateful nature. Besides LGBT groups, other targeted demographics have included
Jews, Hindus, Muslims, victims of school shootings and veterans.
Lola Chase is a senior at RUHS and president of the GSA club. Chase felt the protest, though extremely
offensive, was laughable.
“I think it was kind of a joke,” Chase said. “They showed up with their hateful signs, as we expected, but
they were immediately overwhelmed by how many of us there were [at the counter protest].”
RUHS’s GSA club learned of Westboro’s plan to protest one week prior. In that period, the GSA club
was able to organize a counter-protest of over 150 people. The counter-protest was created through a
Facebook page. GSA members invited their friends, hoping to spark interest in the community.
“[Organizing the counter protest] was rapid and overwhelming,” Chase said. “We got a lot of support really quickly. I was just shocked that many people cared that much, but it shows what kind of community we live in. We don’t stand up for hate and we’ll always remain liberal and loving.”
In contrast to Westboro’s protest, the RUHS protest was based on the idea of love and
compassion. The counter-protesters had positive signs of their own and were chanting, “God loves
everyone.”
“It was loving and positive,” Chase said. “[We] didn’t make it about the Westboro Church; [we] made it
about us. It was about how we care about love, how we care about each other, and how we support the LGBT community.”
Although Westboro’s protest was aimed at RUHS, many people involved in the LGBT community felt
affected.
“I felt that it was just really uncalled for,” Peninsula LGBT United club president junior Ciro Fidaelo said. “Being personally part of the LGBT community, this is almost like being victimized as a community since we’re so close. Their point of view is really hurtful not only to the people being [directly] affected by it, also the people around them.”
Many students in Peninsula’s LGBT United club are close to RUHS’s GSA club, including the club
presidents, Chase and Fidaelo. To show support for RUHS, Peninsula sent its GSA club pictures of the LGBT United club holding a rainbow chord and wearing shirts that read “LGBT United.”
Will Mueller, a sophomore and LGBT United club member who participated in the support photo,
acknowledges the importance of banding together as a community.
“No one achieves anything alone,” Mueller said. “So we, as a substantial part of the LGBT community, have no choice but to help support the community as a whole.”
This is not Westboro’s first protest against a high school. Back in January 2014, the Westboro Baptist Church protested at El Segundo High School. The protest was similar; both schools had few Westboro members protesting outside schools while holding anti-gay signs.
Regardless of Westboro’s recent actions, Fidaelo believes that Southern California, the Peninsula campus included, is an open-minded, safe place for the LGBT community. He hopes that this acceptance will one day expand to all people.
“Here in California, or here in the South Bay in particular, it is really open and accepting in most cases,” said Fidaelo. “It will get better, but for the time being you just have to be proud with who you are and listen to yourself before anyone else.”
