Yesterday, Dan Choi and the Kansas Equality Coalition rallied for gay and lesbian rights in front of the Topeka, KS State House. (you must go read the reason the police tried to give for almost arresting him. Seriously, check it out.....)
Being the hometown of the Phelps Family and their Westboro Baptist Church, Dan knew that the Phelps would make a showing. To transform their presence into something creative, he asked called out for pledges of $1 per hater to be donated to a shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth. 15 members of Westboro made an appearance. Between pledges and matching donations, $9000 was raised.
Information for where to send the pledges is below. If you didn't pledge you can still make donations! Learn about the shelter from Dan's email:
From Lt. Dan Choi:
Thank you for your generous support of our Homeless LGBT Youth. They were kicked out of the homes because of the hateful ideas that some wickedly shout from church pulpits. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church yells "God Hates Fags, God Hates Soldiers, Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and makes a mockery of religious people and the very idea of God's Love for All.
So we were honored that they could help in a constructive and not destructive way, by accepting our challenge: We rallied for gay rights in Topeka, Kansas (Home of Westboro Baptist Church and ironically, the birthplace of Brown v. Board) and took pledges for each hateful protestor that attempted to distract from our rally. Over 150 pledges came in from all over the world, and matching funds estimated their hateful presence to be worth $9,000. This money will benefit one of the busiest LGBTQ homeless youth shelters in America: Silvia's Place in New York City. Named after Transgender Activist and Stonewall Rioter Silvia Rivera, this shelter provides food, mental health and lodging for hundreds of runaway youth. That it is run by a gay church (Metropolitan Community Church of New York) fully repudiates the hate of Fred Phelps' Westboro clan. Sadly, the entire state of Kansas does not yet have a queer-focused homeless youth services home so our kids will find themselves fleeing to the nearest shelter or the biggest cities when they are tossed to the streets.
Please help us continue our mission to "Help the Haters Help Our Homeless." All your generous donations to this critical cause will turn hate into hope. Please fulfill your pledge and consider additional support by clicking here, and you will receive an email receipt for your tax-exempt charitable gift.
Sincerely,
Dan Choi
Make your Paypal donation here.