If you find this article to be biased and not fair and balanced, you’d be right. My disdain for Westboro Baptist is not one which I keep quiet from my peers and coworkers. I am a Christian Latin woman, and I hold these people in highest contempt. If my spitting on fascist, xenophobic, racist, homophobic, and frankly ridiculous ideologies makes you uncomfortable, feel free to leave this article.
I woke up this morning with a knot in my stomach. I had been waiting for this day for a little over a week since I had heard about it. My sign was made. My “Feminist AF’ shirt was waiting for me to put her on. I was mentally preparing for a counter protest against one of the most hated groups in the United States; Westboro Baptist Church was marching into Pitt.
If you’ve been in alive since 1955, you should be familiar with the hateful family known as Westboro Baptist Church. The ‘church’, as it so calls itself, has prided itself for being the group known for spewing ridiculous, controversial, and often times hypocritical ideas of whom God hates. The list of whom they condemn to Hell is as follows:
1. The LGBTQ+ Community
2. The Muslim Community
3. The Jewish Community
4. Catholics
5. Army Vets
6. The Currently Serving Military
7. Minorities (specifically African Americans and Latinos)
8. Politicians
9. I’m sure there’s more but we don’t have the time, nor the brain cells, for such a list
Now it is one thing to hate everyone who isn’t you and your family. It is an entirely other and despicable thing to take such hatred to the extremes in which the Westboro Baptist Church does. See, the Westboro Baptist does more than just preach unfounded doctrine. They have made a name for themselves as the church who holds signs that read quaint little phrases such as, “God Hates F**s”, “Pray for more dead soldiers”, “God Hates Jews”. Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has also made it a point to protest the funerals of American Soldiers who have laid down their life for their country, the greatest sacrifice and service that one could give. If you couldn’t tell already, this group has destroyed their own humanity.
The news of the group coming to the University of Pittsburgh campus came to my attention on September 28th via Facebook post from a friend from church. The post called for our church group to go in counter protest, and attached was their itinerary (that may as well have been written by a 14 year old boy on Reddit). Included with the itinerary was their supposed reason for stirring our beautifully diverse and colorful campus: the University of Pittsburgh has made it a mission to be inclusive to all under-represented groups. This was evidently a cause for outrage amongst the members of WBC, and thus they came to Pitt to condemn our ideals.
News of WBC coming to campus spread like wildfire, and soon everyone was talking about what they would do when WBC came. I rapidly told anyone who would listen about my plans to counter protest and how much I loathed WBC. It seemed as though there was a phantom count down on campus, everyone waiting for them to arise. Because if there is one thing I know about Pitt’s student body, it’s that they know how to create a formidable ruckus. And if WBC was prepared to get loud, then by all the forces of Earth Pitt would be louder.
And so the day came. The sky was gray and overcast and the forecast called for 100% chance of rain. A buzz filled the air that morning, and my own sign stuck out of my backpack like a flag. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, I received several texts from friends who decided to follow the protest through CMU – they were on their way. As soon as we stepped outside to walk towards the site of anticipated calamity, rain began to pour. Suddenly, anticipation was crashing down to the streets from the skies. I grabbed my Crayola magic marker and $2 poster board from my backpack and held it up with fellow protesters on the corner of Bigelow and Forbes. My Magic Marker design began to drip and bleed off the board and onto the streets, creating a rainbow pavement. As it got closer to 2:30, the mandated time of arrival, I was able to take pictures around me of different protestors and the rain. And as the rain was about to get even harder, someone yelled, “Westboro Baptist has left! They’ve been escorted off campus!”
Apparently WBC had been protesting in CMU when the rain started. They were afraid of getting pneumonia from the rain and had decided to cut their hate tour short. It has also been speculated that a student at CMU actually tackled a member of WBC to the ground, and that’s when they were escorted away.
It is very rare, especially in today’s political climate, to see people coming together. As we have moved forward in American history, we have seen parties and ideologies come further and further apart. And yet, in such a pressing time, I was able to witness people truly coming together and willing to protect each other from the verbal fireballs that a group such as the Westboro Baptist Church lobbies at others. Do not be afraid to raise your voice against acts of fascism and tyranny. Do not let a voice of hope be drowned out by the voice of hate. You can be a light in this dark world. Stay safe. Be daring. Speak out.
I was not able to take pictures of my poster before the rain started, but I think it serves as an interesting motif for what occurred that afternoon.
Disclaimer: These views are the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of Her Campus
Photo Credits: 1, All other pictures provided by the author