Westboro Baptist Church To Protest Marriage Equality In New York On First Day Of Gay Marriages

Westboro Baptist Church, the group from Topeka, Kan. known for picketing the funerals of slain American soldiers as well as many other events, has announced they will be in New York City over the weekend to protest marriage equality in the state.

The group's protest comes as the local government prepares to grant an unprecedented number of marriage licenses for Sunday, the first day that marriages are available to same-sex couples, and the following days. After the New York State Legislature's passing of marriage equality in late June, more than 2,500 couples have preregistered for licenses to marry after the law goes into effect, necessitating the city to hold a lottery for those wishing to be married on Sunday.

The WBC protests on Sunday will take place at several sites, including the City Marriage Bureaus in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn, Governor Andrew Cuomo's local office and the Gracie Mansion, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is scheduled to personally officiate the wedding of two staffers.

Westboro Baptist Church, led by Pastor Fred Phelps, has most recently drawn the ire of the American public for protesting the funerals of such public figures as former first lady Betty Ford, television personality Ryan Dunn, Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor and the victims of the Arizona shooting that severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Comments

[DopeboyinaCadillac]

03:24 PM on 08/06/2011

Media outlets need to stop giving WBC publicity. The only reason they continue their protests is because they get media coverage.

[jjcdharry]

12:07 PM on 08/04/2011

They are a bunch of closet cases. It's a known fact!!!

[Haastnooit]

04:48 PM on 07/31/2011

And the play "The Bus",about gay teenagers, is trying to go to Topeka to play their play in the backyard of these people (and they are still looking for funding)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/462972179/the-bus-off-broadway-and-westboro-baptist-church

[JBaker]

09:11 PM on 07/27/2011

The Westboro Baptist Church has done a world of good for gay rights.

Every time Westboro goons descend on some unfortunate soldier's funeral to loudly ridicule his death, and mock the tears of his or her family, they provide a vivid demonstration of the insane hatred that gay people encounter in their lives.

The rest of the country watches and takes note.

[bluntobject]

12:28 AM on 07/27/2011

In a long list of dispicable things one could say about the "good folks" over at Hateboro Baptist, the worst is that these people involve their children in their putrid crusade against equality and Gay Americans in general. May each and every one of their kids grow up to be gay, and learn to hate their parents for "demonstrating" such a collossal level of ignorance and stupidity.

[ptrgamb]

04:54 PM on 07/25/2011

There are fewer people in this Church than were on my basketball team.
And every one of them is going to Hell.

[bluntobject]

11:58 PM on 07/26/2011

Hell is in their tortured minds.

[tenorbear]

04:06 PM on 07/25/2011

This group of "church" people know nothing of God nor of His love. The God I worship and pray to, The One who loves me regardless, bears not one scintilla of resemblance to their god. They pick and choose what parts of the Bible they endorse, ignore the ones that might pertain unfavorably to them and have the gall to stand and picket military funerals, gay marriage and even the funerals of the late Elizabeth Edwards and Betty Ford. Betty Ford!!! Really?? I think most, if not all, of these people are probably members of the Tea Party. Most of the garbage they spew sounds very similar. If you believe in Satan, then Mr. Phelps and his followers are truly his minions. If organized religion, the true evil of the world spawning more wars and hatred than any tyrant, dictator or military junta, is not your thing, then these residents of Kansas are just bigots and racists with nothing better to do with their lives. It would be difficult to find a sadder bunch of ignorant human beings.

[Snookie Kuilan]

02:03 PM on 08/03/2011

well said. we can over look their actions and ignore them but their spread of hate will cause many to commit hate crimes. In God's name ..yeah right. I could go around and blame everything I do and tell the world In God's name. He made me do it.... lame excuse. perfect example the movie the book of eli....using the bible to promote fear and to control the minds of those that dont have the courage to think for themselves.

[Hrover]

02:42 PM on 07/25/2011

So what... And now move on.

[robnelsong]

02:22 PM on 07/25/2011

I'm looking forward to the Westboro Church members reception in Chelsea and the West Village. There will be some great political theater.

[Jack Hope]

01:20 PM on 07/25/2011

These Westboro.... things.... are useful in at least one capacity: they clearly demonstrate the true feelings behind anti-gay bigotry and clearly show that the "polite" face that organizations like NOM put up is nothing but a lie.

[American in Taipei]

12:18 PM on 07/25/2011

They can protest all they want, they're not turning back the clock of progress.

[Snookie Kuilan]

09:26 AM on 07/25/2011

I believe God is watching how we treat one another regardless of what religion anyone practices cause what matters is how we behave with one another. From my understanding we are all Gods children. I hope that a group of people follow then around and protest against them everywhere they go and see how they like it. The leader of the group is nothing but a creeper and promotes hate. Everyone has different sexual perferances and what they do in their bedrooms. Homosexuals, gays, bisexuals or whatever anyone whats to lable themselves all they wanna do is love and have the same legal rights as everyone else it is not much to ask for. Stop the hate cause trust me everyone in america knows someone who is gay. lets protest against hate and not love. Im not asking to accept it but respect another human being in their right to be happy just as much as you do. STOP THE HATE AND STOP USING GOD TO DO EVIL DEEDS!

[brokerallen]

05:33 PM on 07/25/2011

Never said better.

[MissRoseNylund]

06:53 PM on 07/26/2011

Well said!

[Snookie Kuilan]

09:26 AM on 07/25/2011

Ive seen other protest by this group and they are a joke. I dont go to church and I know better than them. God may not agree but he is a loving God. People on this earth have killed and hated other groups based on religion for generations and that is a shame. If they dont like same sex marriage, dont marry someone of the same sex. I have not seen ANYTHING from this group promoting anything good IN GOD'S name. They just spread hate across America. Their leader is a bigot who from his owns fears and who knows he may be gay and hates everyone else for who he is. Stop using religion and tainting it with your own self hate. In the name of God please. They take the bible and twist it to commit their evil deeds. They hug the book close their chest. How dare they mock the fallen who served our country, mock parents on the death of their children. All this based on someone sexuality. Give me a break! Being gay is not the worst thing in the world. Why dont they go picket rapest, murders, a real crime. Live and let live.

[MissRoseNylund]

06:56 PM on 07/26/2011

They preach hate, which is the opposite of what Jesus taught.

[Squidwoman]

07:40 AM on 07/25/2011

I always believed that a Protest was something people organize when the thing that is happening or being prevented from happening actually affected the protesters. How does gay marriage affect these heterosexual citizens? And, actually, if they truly believe that the people who are getting married and homosexual will be condemned to eternal hell-fire, why don't they actually go out and meet some of them....speak face to face. I always thought that's what Jesus did. I believe if you really want to impact someone''s life, you don't go tell the world about it, you speak to that person. God is love. So, be the God within you and show the love to people. It's the most effective way to get a message across if you feel you must. Who knows, the Protestors might become advocates if they actually understood the God they speak of.

[Auracle]

11:44 AM on 07/25/2011

I don't think a protest necessarily has to be just for if something affects you personally; it can also be to voice your opinion on policies that you feel are wrong, or unjust to others, for example.

Even though I myself do not wish to enter into a same-sex marriage, I would protest in favor of gay marriages being allowed, because I believe in equal rights for gays. If blacks (or another ethnic origin other than my own) were enslaved (again), I would protest against their slavery because it is not right, even though I were not enslaved.

And unfortunately, there are many out there who somehow have this notion that if gays are allowed to marry it's -going to- affect heterosexual marriage. Like somehow the straights are going to turn gay and leave their spouses? Or that somehow it's going to "dilute" or make the married bond between straights less special and powerful or something. Really, if their marriages are going to be affected by gay people getting married, I think they have deeper issues in their relationship, eh?

[Squidwoman]

02:22 PM on 07/25/2011

I understand that a DEMONSTRATION would be to voice your opinion, but to PROTEST means you are against something. You can show your support for something by Demonstrating, but when you PROTEST something, theoretically it is because something affects you in some way and you want to get rid of it.

[p c r]

07:00 AM on 07/25/2011

I find it interesting that their signs say "God Hates..." What kind of a God hates anyone? It couldn't be that they are projecting their personal prejudices and ignorance onto an imaginary diety and pretending to speak for that diety in order to get attention and cash from frivilous lawsuits, could it?

[Epiphany2b]

07:13 AM on 07/25/2011

In my understanding of God, the thing He hates is exactly what those people are. I think He hates it when people depict Him in this way. I wish there were signs all over just saying "God Hates Haters"

[American in Taipei]

12:20 PM on 07/25/2011

Of course that's how the deity works. For example: I hate asparagus, therefore GOD HATES ASPARAGUS!

[p c r]

12:41 PM on 07/25/2011

I had to fan you for that, despite the fact that I love asparagus. I think God must really hate peas. They make me gag.