[
UPDATE: Sat, 11AM.] In the photos after the jump, the young woman with the 9/11 sign is actually Sara Phelps, a 24-year-old granddaughter of Fred Phelps, according to the
Durham Herald-Sun. The
guy in the red poncho screaming about saving the gerbils is Fred's son Jonathon Phelps. The young man holding the "God Hates Fag Enablers" and Matthew Shepherd in Hell signs is grandson Ryan Phelps.]
Wifey Kate and I went down to see all the hubbub, expecting to see Fred Phelps and his bile-spewing members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who planned to protest the Durham School of the Arts production of "The Laramie Project." Guess what? A no-show for Fred Phelps.
The gutless, ball-less Rotting Cryptkeeper wasn't there this evening, but plenty of his supporters and children/grandchildren were there with their filth. Plenty of counter-protesters showed up. There was a ton of drive-by traffic, slowing down for the freakshow. The cops kept the counter-protestors across the street from the Phelps clan, so it was civil. Queer supporters that didn't bring signs were given sheets with "
Gay? Fine by me" to hold up in silent protest.
I'll have more pix up later, probably tomorrow after we return to actually attend the play for the matinee. I saw quite a few people I know, including fellow local blogger
ae of
arse poetica. Kate and I stayed about an hour; I got plenty of good pix, but I was pissed that Fred wasn't there.
I did, however, get completely entertained by this freakshow guy dressed in a red poncho, shouting
"Save The Gerbils!" and "
Stop the Sh*t-eating Fags" and other random nonsense. He began quoting scripture. It was pathetic.
Local TV coverage of Phelps clan's visit to Durham
I wanted to post some local coverage of yesterday's protests and counter-protests. The Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Durham-area churches during the day and come back to demonstrate back at the school for this evening's performance.
Video from ABC Durham affiliate, WTVD (link goes to page w/clip) by reporter Don Ross. <div class="blockquote">The protesters gathered Friday afternoon on Anderson Street in Durham, to demonstrate against the play and gays. "The Bible says, 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind,'" said Jonathan Phelps, one of Fred Phelps' sons. "It makes a hero out of a guy that did it." [Anderson St. is in my former neighborhood, Old West Durham, a progressive, gay-friendly neighborhood near the funky shopping district of Ninth Street]
The demonstrators stood on American flag, saying the red strips represented AIDS-tainted blood. The protesters carried signs declaring that Matthew Shepard was burning in Hell, and Pope John Paul II recently joined him because "he told people that God loves everybody." A young follower carried a sign reading, "Thank God for September 11th." The protesters provoke and expect confrontation. "I would just pray for these people that they would change, and I have changed, to realize that gay people are as God made them," said one woman who has a gay son. </div>Local newspaper coverage, from the Durham Herald-Sun's Mindy B. Hagen: <div class="blockquote"> Locals upstage anti-gay group
With more than 100 Durham residents and college students chanting at them to "get out of our town," a group of 10 protesters from Kansas made good on their promise to picket outside a Durham School of the Arts play Friday night. The protesters are followers and family members of the Rev. Fred Phelps, pastor of Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church and one of the nation's most outspoken anti-gay activists. Although Phelps did not make the trip to Durham, his supporters carried his message, holding signs reading "God Hates Fags," "Thank God for 9/11" and "Pope in Hell."
..."You spit in the face of God every time you put on this fag propaganda play," said Sara Phelps, a 24-year-old granddaughter of Fred Phelps. "It's an inappropriate play for anyone to see. We want to serve the Lord our God, and this is our duty in life."
But on the other side of North Duke Street, community members sang hymns, cheered as passing cars honked and emphasized their support for the DSA cast. Holding posters reading "Bravo, DSA" and "Ignorance Breeds Hatred," the counter-protest organizers said they hope to show Phelps' group that their message of hate and intolerance is not welcome in Durham. "I was worried I'd burst into tears as soon as I saw the protesters, but seeing so many counter-protesters here is really powerful," said Duke student Jennifer Gurevich. "People really formed this great feeling of camaraderie."
At times, the dueling groups traded insults across North Duke Street, with one Durham man shouting at the protesters that their "children are the future of the Ku Klux Klan" and another asking, "Do you know the difference between fundamental and insane? "
About six officers from the Durham Police Department stood guard to prevent the shouting from escalating into violence, and both groups remained on separate sides of the street throughout the hourlong protest.
A few minutes before the show began, director Douglas Graves said the cast was aware of the protests outside. Graves, a drama teacher at DSA, was worried weeks ago that the protests would overshadow the performance and his students' hard work. But on Friday night, he said he was "encouraged" to see so many counter-protesters standing up to Phelps' group. "We outnumber them, and that's so positive," Graves said. "It once again proves that performing this show is valid. Our cast feels that tonight's show is so much deeper for them."
...With their protest completed at 7:30 p.m., Sara Phelps said her group has a busy next few days planned in Durham. In addition to protesting outside the play again today, the Kansas activists also plan to make their voices heard outside several Durham churches. The list includes St. Paul Lutheran Church today and Aldersgate United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Our Savior Lutheran Church, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Sunday morning.
Sara Phelps said the group is targeting churches that "allow this fag propaganda play to be put on in their city." "There's not a real church here in the whole city of Durham," she said. "If there was, they'd be out here every day preaching against these fags." [Ha ha ha ha...I went to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church's school, Immaculata, for K-6; it's one of those progressive churches that Pope Ratz goes apesh*t over.]
But the area's Christian community already has started mobilizing against the protesters. The Rev. Mark Creech, director of the Raleigh-based Christian Action League of North Carolina, released a statement saying that "Phelps' message of hate is contrary to the doctrine of the churches represented and most importantly to the teachings of Christ." "Mr. Fred Phelps and his organization do not speak for us," Creech said. </div>Still laughing that the Cryptkeeper himself didn't show.
Fred Phelps did make a trip to the Triangle back in 2002 to protest a same-sex commitment ceremony in Chapel Hill:
Earlier Pam's House Blend posts on this event:
* First shots from the Westboro Baptist Church protest in Durham, NC
* Off to see The Rotting CryptkeeperTM Fred Phelps
* Reminder: Triangle folks please buy tix for "The Laramie Project" to counter-protest Phelps
* My dream come true -- Fred Phelps is coming to Durham!
We will being attending the Durham School of the Arts matinee performance of The Laramie Project today, and I don't know if the hatemonger Phelps clan will be out, but we'll see.
(Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend and Big Brass Blog)