God hates us all, so says Westboro Baptist Church, this time near the Pulse Nightclub, site of a massive mass shooting. This from Orlando (FL) Sentinel.
A handful of protesters from the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church showed up Monday morning at Valencia College’s west campus and on Sunday morning at several churches in Seminole County, law officers said.
There were no scuffles and no arrests.
The group stayed at the college for about half an hour, and there were no counterprotesters, Orlando police said. About 15 or 20 counterprotesters showed up at the churches, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and Altamonte Springs police.
The group originally said it planned to picket at Lake Brantley High School on Monday morning, but it changed the location to Valencia, which it describes as “just a few miles down the road from the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.”
Westboro said it chose Valencia because of its large student population and influence in the community and also because it promotes gay acceptance.
“While we respect their constitutional right to protest, we find the views of Westboro Baptist Church — especially those related to the LGBTQ community — repugnant and antithetical to the values of this college,” Valencia responded in a statement. “At Valencia, we stand with everyone who is seeking a better world through learning—in the hopes that it may someday banish beliefs borne of ignorance and hate.”
The targeted churches were Wekiva Presbyterian Church near Longwood, Annunciation Catholic Church, PSD Church of Christ and Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church, all in or near Altamonte Springs. Picketers didn’t cross the street from the Church of Christ to the Baptist church, said Senior Police Officer Evelyn Estevez, an Altamonte Springs department spokeswoman.
Westboro, based in Topeka, Kansas, gained notoriety in the mid 2000s for picketing military funerals. It blames the Sept. 11 attacks, Pulse nightclub and other mass shootings, hurricanes and other natural disasters on “sins” it says include homosexuality and abortion.
Members also say that God hates sinners.
“We’re not trying to win friends and influence people,” said church elder Steve Drain, who is from Tampa. “We’re trying to preach the Bible. Sin is rampant, and people look at the Bible as unpopular and something not to revere and not to obey. We’re just trying to obey God by being out there.”
Westboro members also picketed in downtown Orlando in June 2016 near the funeral of Drew Leinonen, one of 49 people killed in the shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub.
The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies Westboro, founded in 1955 by the late Pastor Fred Phelps, as an anti-LGBT hate organization that also preaches anti-Semitism.
The church says it intends to protest at the White House on Nov. 10 and at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, which is Veterans Day.