As the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church group pickets throughout Norfolk today, Richmonders are rallying online to counter-demonstrate when church members arrive in Richmond tomorrow.
A Facebook page started last Tuesday by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy has tallied more than 980 people who said they would demonstrate against the WBC in various places around the state.
“It was pretty surprising to me how quick and viral word got out on this,” said Ryan Rinn, grassroots coordinator at the Virginia Interfaith Center and page creator.
“We’re happy people are saying, ‘Richmond won’t stand for this type of hate.’ ”
The WBC, with headquarters in Topeka, Kan., is known for its anti-Semitic and anti-gay rhetoric. Members, mostly extended family of WBC founder Fred Phelps, also picket funerals of American soldiers, claiming God has killed them for defending a nation of “sodomite hypocrites.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups around the country, has a file on Phelps, calling him “America’s most notorious anti-gay activist.” A spokesperson for the WBC said fewer than 10 members will be in Richmond tomorrow.
Another local group, started by four Richmond mothers, Pennies in Protest, has collected about $4,600 from 190 contributors in less than four days in existence. Cofounder Sarah Allen-Short said they got the idea from a New York synagogue that used the occasion of a 50-minute WBC protest to raise $10,000 by asking people to donate to the synagogue for every minute of the WBC picket.
Pennies in Protest started a collection on ChipIn.com and spread the word with friends on Twitter and on a Facebook page, which by this afternoon has about 900 fans. Word-of-mouth activity on hashtag #rva shows various users retweeting the site.
Allen-Short said that all the money from the Web site campaign will be evenly distributed to the four entities that the WBC is picketing tomorrow. The roughly 3 percent mandatory fee the site, ChipIn.com, charges per donation will be covered by organizers, she said.
“I love the idea of being able to send Westboro a thank-you note saying, ‘If you never had come here, we wouldn’t have been able to give all of this money to Jews and gays,” she said.
The WBC schedule on Tuesday is:
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., Virginia Holocaust Museum, 2000 E. Cary St.;
12:40 p.m. - 1:10 p.m., Jerusalem Connection, 210 Giant Dr;
1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., Weinstein JCC, 5403 Monument Ave.;
3:40 p.m. - 4:10 p.m., Hermitage High School, 8301 Hungary Spring Rd.
Two counter-protests are sanctioned by local groups: a silent “counterpresence” at the Holocaust Museum, plus an “anti-hate” rally outside the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Commons at 1:30 p.m.
External links:
Virginia anti-WBC Facebook page
VCU anti-hate rally Facebook page
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