Westboro Baptist Church members promised a "God Hates Fags" protest outside the sold-out Adam Lambert concert in Springfield, Missouri, on Aug. 7.
But when an estimated 200 counter-protesters showed up at the Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, waving placards with sayings such as "It’s OK to Be Gay," the Westboro Church protesters were apparently nowhere to be found.
Still, the openly gay singer (a frequent target of WBC ire) came out to greet his supporters and autograph their protest signs; tweeted his outrage at the "Westboro Bastard Church of Ignorance"; and kissed a male bandmate during his show, adding: "Suck on this, Westboro."
This all raises the question: is it playing into WBC's hands to fight fire with fire? Or is it better to ignore provocateurs?
The Westboro Baptist Church recently announced plans -- including date, time and place -- to picket Adam Lambert's Aug. 7 concert in Springfield, Missouri.
This early warning gave the opposition time to form. A college student led a group of protestors -- including both concert-goers and those who weren't planning to attend -- to stand across the street from the venue, waving signs with messages such as "All You Need is Love" and "Gay is OK." About 200 people turned out, with no sign of the WBC protestors. Lambert appeared at one point to thank the group and sign autographs.
Here is video of the counter-demonstration:
Lambert’s brother, Neil, a production assistant on Lambert’s summer tour, tweeted a link to video showing more of the signs.
Lambert himself took to Twitter, slamming the WBC protestors with this message:
Amazing Anti-Hate protest outside venue. Completely outnumbered the Westboro Bastard Church of Ignorance. Love overcomes hate. I LOVE FAGS!!
Later, during his concert, Lambert kissed male bass-player Tommy Joe Ratliff (the recipient of Lambert’s controversial American Music Awards kiss last November) during his song, "Fever" (which features the lyric, "There he goes, my baby, walks so slow")— and then said, "Suck on that, Westboro."
Lambert is not a new target of Westboro Church protesters. A handful appeared at his concert in July in Kansas City, MO. He also was picketed by Westboro during the American Idols Live tour last summer.
If the Westboro pickets hope to be having an effect on Lambert’s career, they are not succeeding, as his Glam Nation concert tour is a virtual sell-out nationwide, at a time when many acts are having difficulty filling venues.
The group also has protested at concerts by Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, to similar lack of effect, given both entertainers’ successes.
So, why bother to hold counter-protests against such an ineffective group of provocateurs? Isn’t providing publicity to publicity-seekers the wrong approach?
Or are counter-measures important ways to rally supporters and show the larger community (especially in a "Real America" town such as Springfield, Missouri) that Westboro’s messages of intolerance are unacceptable?
Even if anti-WBC pickets aren't needed to demonstrate this message, they sure can be entertaining, as last month's ridiculing of WBC by counter-protesters at San Diego's Comic-Con showed.