From Protest To Party

Last night the Temple University Student Government and their Queer Student Union put on a production of "The Laramie Project" on campus. In case you aren't aware, it tells the story of the reactions of people in Laramie, Wyoming to the 1998 torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student.

This did not please the Westboro Baptist Church, the extremist anti-gay organization led by Fred Phelps that holds protests at funerals of fallen soldiers and many other events, waving signs such as "God hates fags" and "Thank God for 9/11." The cult (let's face it, that's what they are) announced that they would hold a protest at Temple because of the production of "The Laramie Project" as well as a separate production of "Rent." A counter-protest was organized in response.

My friend Kurt (with whom I share a birthday, albeit 20 years apart) was in the cast of "The Laramie Project" so I went to see him in the first of two shows, at 4 pm, as did his friend Stacy from Virginia, and we then joined the counter-protest. The amount of people -- mostly students, but not entirely, and not all from Temple -- was impressive. The turnout was reported at over 1,100 at the locations where the two plays were being held, according to the report in the Temple News. (Neither the Inquirer nor the Daily News saw fit to cover this story, unfortunately.)



Funny story: while we were in the auditorium a clean-cut man came in alone and sat near us. He was carrying a sign, which was rolled up a little, so we could see a little of it. I could only make out one word: "Christ." Stacy and I both thought it might be one of the WBC people, although we couldn't figure out why he'd be watching the play. When we greeted Kurt after the show and told him the story, he explained that he knows the guy, and he was actually part of the counter-protest! He brought his own sign, unlike those of us who were given signs by the protest organizers. You just never know.

At first, as people were standing, holding signs, I felt a little bit of tension. However, as it went on and it became obvious that the Westboro cowards weren't showing up, it really became more of a party atmosphere. At one point someone turned on a boombox and began playing Lady Gaga. I don't know if it was the man dressed as Gaga that the Temple News article mentioned, but it seems plausible. There was lots of picture-taking (including those I took) and happy chatter. Before we left, a woman with a video camera and microphone came up to us and asked if we'd be willing to be interviewed briefly. I didn't think to ask who she worked for, so I have no idea if my quotes were used anywhere.

More photos below, including me with the sign they gave me, an appearance by someone I follow on Twitter, plus some which mention other people and things God hates. The last one, I can totally understand! (One sign I didn't get a clear shot of said, "God hates the new Facebook.")