Bostonist reader Kim Lucas reports on witnessing Westboro Baptist Church's anti-gay protest (and the counter-protest) at Cambridge Rindge and Latin school Friday afternoon. Phelps and the WBC will be returning to Boston on March 20 to protest at East Boston High School.
Cambridge Rindge and Latin, you made me proud yesterday.
Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church kicked off their weeklong Boston area tour Friday (the thirteenth!) with a visit to Cambridge's only public high school. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Phelps' group, they are a hate group based in Topeka, KS and are known for touring the nation (and other nations) with their sidewalk protests against all acts they classify as "sin." Homosexuality tops their sin list (no pun intended), and that's what their Boston tour is all about. They had heard that Reading High was doing a screening of the Laramie Project, and that is supposedly where they were headed following Cambridge—after, of course, doing a few protests in Lexington as well.
Since the WBC announces its events in advance, Rindge and Latin student organizations and Cambridge community members were able to come together in a joint effort to counter-protest the presence of this group on their campus and in their city. Young people and adults alike came together to spread their response: there's no room for hate in Cambridge.
Friday's events kicked off at 10:30 a.m. with community members congregating in Joan Lorenz park with signs, music, and a bullhorn. Community members paraded to the rear entrance of the school, where Cambridge police had thrown up barricades to ensure that protesters and counter-protesters remained in separate areas. At 11:10am, the school's "A" lunch commenced and students, who had heard announcements about the counter-protest, joined the community members and flooded Cambridge Street with their presence. Even Mayor Denise Simmons was in attendance to lend her support to the students and the community. The WBC showed up a bit after the time they had announced, and the counter-protest crowd grew in the meanwhile. When the WBC arrived, all five of them, they were (un)welcomed by an estimated 500+ crowd.
The WBC protest lasted approximately 25 minutes, with the counter-protest going strong all the while. WBC members held signs, some of which were expected (e.g., "God Hates Fags") and some of which were just confusing (e.g., "You Eat Your Kids"). Students and community members chanted various protest chants ("We're here, we're queer, we're not going anywhere"), and a sign showing just how much the students had fundraised via the Phelps-a-Thon was held and update throughout. The 25 minutes of WBC presence proved quite disturbing, not only because clearly such hateful people still exist, but also because there was a small child with the group, who, at one point, was stomping on the American flag while holding a "God Hates Fags" sign. Not cool in so many ways.
The counter-protest didn't disband until the WBC left and then some. It was amazing and uplifting to see how such a diverse community (of all sexual orientation, races, ethnicities, and ages) can come together for a common cause and with a common message. Walking away from Friday's events, I thought to myself, "Fred Phelps, don't mess with Cambridge."
To see more pictures of the protest and the counter protest, check out Kim's Flickr page.
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