Creative people needed :)

[AshleyW]

Okay, creative people, I need your help!

Our local theatre group (Theatre Cedar Rapids) is putting on a production of "The Laramie Project" tonight. For those who aren't aware of what this show is, here's the blurb from the TCR website:

In October of 1998, a student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. He was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later in an area hospital. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay.

Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard, and constructed a deeply moving theatrical work from these interviews and their own experiences.

Join us for this powerful production as part of the ongoing nationwide remembrance of 10 years since the Shepard case.

At tonight's show, the Westboro Baptist Church is planning a protest. This is the "God Hates Fags" group that protests everywhere, including at soldiers' funerals.

A peaceful counter protest is being planned tonight, and I'm going with one of my good friends and his boyfriend to show some support.

SO, here's where you creative people come into play. I'm looking for ideas of what to put on a sign. I don't want anything mean, or confrontational - as this is going to be a peaceful counter protest. So far, I've come up with "LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF", and my friend is going to put some colored paper hearts on a piece of white poster board. Any other good ideas?!

ETA: Please, also, no political or religious discussions. I'm not really looking for opinions on the Westboro Baptist Church or The Laramie Project, just some awesome sign ideas.

 

[happygirl]

Okay, creative people, I need your help!

Our local theatre group (Theatre Cedar Rapids) is putting on a production of "The Laramie Project" tonight. For those who aren't aware of what this show is, here's the blurb from the TCR website:



At tonight's show, the Westboro Baptist Church is planning a protest. This is the "God Hates Fags" group that protests everywhere, including at soldiers' funerals.

A peaceful counter protest is being planned tonight, and I'm going with one of my good friends and his boyfriend to show some support.

SO, here's where you creative people come into play. I'm looking for ideas of what to put on a sign. I don't want anything mean, or confrontational - as this is going to be a peaceful counter protest. So far, I've come up with "LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF", and my friend is going to put some colored paper hearts on a piece of white poster board. Any other good ideas?!

ETA: Please, also, no political or religious discussions. I'm not really looking for opinions on the Westboro Baptist Church or The Laramie Project, just


some awesome sign ideas.

To be honest, That group that is protesting the play, They wouldn't be worth my time to even come down there. I think they thrive on attention. I think the best thing to do is ignore them.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

Kudos to you! It's a tough call what to do - I can see both sides. You want to provide an opposite supportive viewpoint, but I'm with the other poster and hate to give any attention to these narrow-minded lunatics. They count on the media to fuel the fire and give them a forum.

 

[AshleyW]

Kudos to you! It's a tough call what to do - I can see both sides. You want to provide an opposite supportive viewpoint, but I'm with the other poster and hate to give any attention to these narrow-minded lunatics. They count on the media to fuel the fire and give them a forum.

Right. A lot of the people who are attending won't be really responding to the WBC or anything, but are mostly just there supporting The Laramie Project and remembering Matthew Shepard. For example, there are a lot of people building a "Wall of Angels" - wearing angel wings with pictures and signs in remembrance of Matthew, and standing between the WBC protesters and the theater itself. At this point, the local media (a news station and a newspaper) are already aware of the WBC protest and are posting news stories about them, so I don't think the counter-protest will necessarily give them any more publicity than they already have.

I appreciate the feedback so far.

 

[NHdisneylover]

To be honest, That group that is protesting the play, They wouldn't be worth my time to even come down there. I think they thrive on attention. I think the best thing to do is ignore them.

I agree with this. This group has slunk away at times when locals refused to give them the attention they wanted.

However, if you want to have a sign here are a couple of ideas (none of these are my original ideas):
If you want to stick with Biblical quotes:
Judge not lest ye be judgeld thyself

or secular:
Straight but not narrow

The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision. ~Lynn Lavner

All you need is love

Every kindergartner knows love is good and hate is bad

 

[NHdisneylover]

I came up with one of my own (but others have probably had the same thought at times).

This Shepherd (photo of Jesus tending his flock) loved this Shephard (photo of Matthew).

Then maybe put: We are ALL God's children at the bottom.

 

[kaytieeldr]

He loves ALL His children?

He made us all, He loves us all?

God hates bigots?

 

[Wall-E1]

Kudos to you! It's a tough call what to do - I can see both sides. You want to provide an opposite supportive viewpoint, but I'm with the other poster and hate to give any attention to these narrow-minded lunatics. They count on the media to fuel the fire and give them a forum.

I see both sides, and a third. I agree with the first two points that by opposing them gives them more attention, which is what they want. I also understand wanting to show your viewpoint. The third side is that ignoring these groups is wrong also. We must always stand up in the face of bigotry and racism and have our voices heard louder than theirs.

Personally, I would prefer getting a rise out of these people. I would go with "God hates Bigots". You'll notice it's a three word phrase. Groups like the one you will be protesting are only capable of understanding "bumper sticker" type phrases, so this will be perfect.

 

[happygirl]

If you are going to do it.

I would maybe do God made us in his image,

 

[Deb in IA]

To be honest, That group that is protesting the play, They wouldn't be worth my time to even come down there. I think they thrive on attention. I think the best thing to do is ignore them.

I completely agree with this.

Ashley, we've had this group protest in front of our church in Iowa City, on Palm Sunday, when the Riverside Theater did "The Laramie Project". The reason they targeted our church is because the Episcopal Church (our denomination) is viewed by them as gay-friendly. Our children were acolytes that day and were up in front with the processional, so we did a bit of research and talked to a friend of ours, who happens to be an Iowa City police officer.

This group of loonies ONLY wants attention. That is why they not only protest this play, but also funerals of servicepersons, and any tragic event. They even came to "protest" (draw attention to themselves) at the funerals of the Sueppel family murders, in which the father bludgeoned his wife and 4 children and then killed himself in a car wreck a year or so ago.

The best thing you can do is to IGNORE them. If you counter-protest, or even put up pictures of Matthew Shepard, they will have gotten what they want - your attention. Really, they are not worth even a glance in their direction.

As for the news media, well, that's their job to cover things like this.

By the way, my DD's boyfriend had a small part in this play, but he had to drop out as the commute and rehearsal times conflcted with his classes and finals.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

This Shepherd (photo of Jesus tending his flock) loved this Shephard (photo of Matthew).

Then maybe put: We are ALL God's children at the bottom.

I love this one!

I like the wall of angels, too.

Sorry, I'm not creative enough to add any of my own.

 

[AshleyW]

I completely agree with this.

Ashley, we've had this group protest in front of our church in Iowa City, on Palm Sunday, when the Riverside Theater did "The Laramie Project". The reason they targeted our church is because the Episcopal Church (our denomination) is viewed by them as gay-friendly. Our children were acolytes that day and were up in front with the processional, so we did a bit of research and talked to a friend of ours, who happens to be an Iowa City police officer.

This group of loonies ONLY wants attention. That is why they not only protest this play, but also funerals of servicepersons, and any tragic event. They even came to "protest" (draw attention to themselves) at the funerals of the Sueppel family murders, in which the father bludgeoned his wife and 4 children and then killed himself in a car wreck a year or so ago.

The best thing you can do is to IGNORE them. If you counter-protest, or even put up pictures of Matthew Shepard, they will have gotten what they want - your attention. Really, they are not worth even a glance in their direction.

As for the news media, well, that's their job to cover things like this.

By the way, my DD's boyfriend had a small part in this play, but he had to drop out as the commute and rehearsal times conflcted with his classes and finals.

I remember that, it was horrible. I wasn't aware the WBC was at their funeral. How sad for the family of the Sueppels.

I appreciate everyone's opinions and ideas so far.

 

[AshleyW]

So, just an update... they didn't show up. I got stuck at work and texted my friend to let him know I'd be about 20 minutes late. He texted me back and said not to bother, as the only people who showed up were the counter protesters, who were counter protesting.. nothing. So, who knows what happened. Maybe they found something more exciting than "The Laramie Project" to show up at.

 

[barkley]

i'm not surprised they did'nt show. when i did the show a couple of years ago we heard that they often leak that they are showing up at productions they have no intention of just to elicit media coverage and get their name and agenda out.

 

[CowboyCO]

I lived in Laramie and was involved in local government when Shephard was killed and for the subsequent trials. I was at his memorial service. I was in the loop when the Westboro Nutcases came to town. In the briefing about the group from the City Attorney, included info about that the head nutcases's daughter is an attorney and when they protest, if anybody violates their civil right to protest, they sue and settle, which is how they fund themselves.

My niece was in the movie. I hated the movie. The University of Wyoming is a gorgeous campus and Laramie is a nice town and they made it look like it was a trailer trash redneck town, when in fact the vast majority of residents have college degrees. Bottom line is, two young druggies committed an heinous crime that wouldn't have made the evening news is any city had it not happened where it happened and how it happened. A gay professor from UW was killed in Denver around the same time and dumped by the railroad tracks after leaving a gay bar. That one didn't even make the Denver news...

I'd recommend you don't counter protest against the Westboro crazies. They are not worth your time. Nothing good can come from engaging them.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?