Before 7 am helicopters were blasting over the houses in our neighborhood. A police chase? A traffic jam on the freeway?
No, this time it was the fundamentalists that had come to town.
Crazies from that church in Kansas had arrived to get some publicity by picketing the Oscars, and on the morning after, they wanted to picket a high school, any high school.
Santa Monica turned out to be their choice for location-most-likely-to-generate-publicity for their anti-gay protest.
A total of 6-7 from Oklahoma showed up--greatly outnumbered by members of local churches, who had mobilized to counter their message with signs of "God is Love" and "God cares for all creation." SMHS's Gay-Straight Alliance also took part.
When John and I found out that our daughter Ellen and her husband Carlos had driven from mid-town Los Angeles to take part in this God-loves-you demonstration, we were delighted.
Ellen is a grad of Samohi in 2003. She and her classmates Erin Neff and Erin McConocha cared enough to come and defend their school and their values--and to arrive at 6:15 am to do so!
Check out the video on YouTube made by Ben Ross:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z1mhPVs0llI
Ellen and Carlos were married at nearby St. Augustine by-the-sea Episcopal Church, where gay priests such as Malcolm Boyd have preached.
We were also happy that coverage of the Academy Awards had gone on for hours with no mention of this group so determined to get their five minutes on the national stage.
Below are a few words from the LA Times on this non-event:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/westboro-baptist-church-pickets-santa-monica-high-.html
Here are a few more photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102150538747404124091/2013FightingHateWithLove
No, this time it was the fundamentalists that had come to town.
Crazies from that church in Kansas had arrived to get some publicity by picketing the Oscars, and on the morning after, they wanted to picket a high school, any high school.
 |
| Ellen & Carlos at counter-demonstration |
Santa Monica turned out to be their choice for location-most-likely-to-generate-publicity for their anti-gay protest.
A total of 6-7 from Oklahoma showed up--greatly outnumbered by members of local churches, who had mobilized to counter their message with signs of "God is Love" and "God cares for all creation." SMHS's Gay-Straight Alliance also took part.
When John and I found out that our daughter Ellen and her husband Carlos had driven from mid-town Los Angeles to take part in this God-loves-you demonstration, we were delighted.
Check out the video on YouTube made by Ben Ross:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z1mhPVs0llI
Ellen and Carlos were married at nearby St. Augustine by-the-sea Episcopal Church, where gay priests such as Malcolm Boyd have preached.We were also happy that coverage of the Academy Awards had gone on for hours with no mention of this group so determined to get their five minutes on the national stage.
Below are a few words from the LA Times on this non-event:
 |
| Christians standing up to anti-gay demonstrators |
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/westboro-baptist-church-pickets-santa-monica-high-.html
Here are a few more photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102150538747404124091/2013FightingHateWithLove
 |
| Early morning demonstration at Ellen's high school |
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