Westboro Baptist Church Vows NBA Playoff Protest In Wake Of Jason Collins' Coming Out

Jason Collins has never played for the Houston Rockets or the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that won't stop the Westboro Baptist Church from vowing to protest at those respective basketball teams' matchup in the wake of the NBA veteran's coming out earlier this week.

Fan site Ultimate Rockets reports that members of the church, which is known for its extremely anti-gay views, will picket outside Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena, where the Rockets will face off against Thunder in a first-round playoff matchup on May 1.

Claiming that Westboro members have "picketed [the NBA's] basketball games for years," a news release indicates that both the Chesapeake Energy Arena game and a Chicago Bulls vs. Brooklyn Nets game at Chicago's United Center on May 2.

"Now has-been pervert Jason Collins has 'come out' admitting he's a proud fag," officials write in the release. "Lift up your voice against this awful sin; use the platform God gave you to warn your fellow man to flee destruction."

Other tweets visible on the Westboro's news release Twitter handle include:

Of course, whether or not Westboro Baptist Church members will actually follow up on their proposal is questionable. Last month, officials vowed to protest at the Chicago funeral of movie critic Roger Ebert, whom they deemed a "fag enabler." But as The Chicago Sun-Times' Stefano Esposito reported, members were no-shows at the actual funeral.

Similarly, Westboro members failed to turn up at the 2012 funeral of Whitney Houston despite previous vows. Instead, they tweeted a digitally altered image which appeared to show them at the late pop diva's memorial in New Jersey.