Westboro Baptist Church inspires $92,000 (& counting) donation to Trevor Project

http://newyork.newsday.com/news/nation/westboro-baptist-church-to-protest-at-vassar-college-schwarzkopf-memorial-1.4724301

This is kind of a nice story for once (involving the WBC).

A group of college kids have figured out how to peacefully overpower, silence, and elegantly use WBC's hateful and attention seeking behavior against them. They've turned it completely around on WBC, and created something good out of it - for the victims that the WBC is hating-on.

A completely positive outcome to attempted bullying of an LBGT-friendly college campus by the WBC - and a windfall for the anti-bullying support group - The Trevor Project.

Vassar is also holding it's own rally during WBC's scheduled protest tomorrow, planning to ignore the WBC protest, and encouraging the entire town to do the same.

The Westboro Baptist Church refers to Vassar as "The Ivy League Whorehouse".

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/02/26/vassar-college-preps-for-westboro-baptist-church-protest-supports-lgbt-youth/

That is totally awesome! :great:

There is also the former member writing a book... and people leaving WB of their own choice.
All good stuff as far as I'm concerned. :seeya:

http://www.courant.com/features/hc-westboro-lauren-drain-0303-20130303,0,5769387.story

Lauren Drain, 27, lives in the Hartford area and works as a nurse. She shares a simple apartment with her fiancee, web designer David Kagan, and their lively little puggle dog. It's an average life, but Drain appreciates every moment of the freedom she has to live it.

That freedom began more than five years ago, when Drain was kicked out of the Westboro Baptist Church.

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A few weeks ago, her close friends from WBC — Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper, two granddaughters of church founder Fred Phelps — left the cult of their own choice. Drain didn't want to talk about them; she hopes to reconnect and doesn't want to speak for them. But she sat down for an interview to talk about herself: how her family got into WBC, life inside it and life since her ouster.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20130228/NEWS01/130228024/Counter-protestors-outnumber-Westboro-Vassar-College

Above ^ article has Poughkeepsie (home of Vassar College) hometown news and video/TV coverage of today's rally @ Vassar College in response to today's picketing of the College by WBC.

Photos/quotes below from article.

A Grand total of 4 WBC members arrived to picket.


Hundreds and hundreds from Vassar College, the Poughkeepsie community, Alum & family members of Vassar, nearby Marist College and NY State College @ New Paltz came out in support of Vassar's Rally.



vs.



Hundreds and hundreds celebrated diversity, and celebrated women, (Vassar originally being a women's college, now co-ed), and stood in line for rainbow brownies.

When Westboro members packed up their signs and were escorted from the premises, the crowd roared in excitement. The group marched back to the campus and gathered back at the Main Building where a giant bell was rung and students marched holding hands. Participants hugged, danced and took pictures as they celebrated their united front.

"I think it's exactly what we need," said Darren Dickson, 21, of LaGrangeville. "This is my community and I don't want these people polluting our minds."

Click to expand...

Total donations collected by Vassar College's rally - on behalf of THE TREVOR PROJECT now total $102,600K (on Feb 28, day of protest).

The project has exceeded it's goal by 2,279%. (Original goal was $4500.)


http://www.crowdrise.com/VCFeb28