The counter protest against Fred Phelps. Image courtesy of TAMMY LJUNGBLAD - The Kansas City Star.
I have to hand it to the Shawnee Mission East Lancers of Prairie Village, KS. They stood up to the gay hating Fred Phelps in a tremendous show of force. By some counts, as many as 450 people showed up to counter protest the dozen or so of Fred Phelps loyal followers that were protesting outside the high school. As a high school graduate from the Kansas City area, I was privileged enough to receive an invite to this counter protest. Unfortunately, distance and practicality kept me from going to an event I wish I could have gone to.
Phelps was protesting Shawnee Mission East for their election of a homecoming king last year who is openly gay. Bless his heart, he came up to KC from school in Oklahoma to participate in the protest, effectively standing up for himself. As a Christian, I’d like to apologize to him, Matt Pope, for the idiocy, bigotry, and hipocrosy exhibited by Fred Phelps. In my “humble” opinion, Phelps is subhuman for his treatment and views of the LGBT community and, frankly, America in general.
To the world, I’m sorry that this kind of shameful ideology originated in America, but as the Constitution says, there’s really nothing illegal about what his church is doing. It’s free speech and I respect his right to it. But he’s insane. The fact that 450 students held their candor in the face of such an enraging voice in America is a testament to the power of good to triumph over evil.
I know that I’ll be picketing Fred Phelps funeral, and my sign will say, as one of the signs at the counter protest today did, “I Forgive Fred Phelps.”