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Protests exchanged at play
USINFO | 2014-01-08 14:38
Acton, Mass. —
When Lura Chamberlain looked out of a second-floor classroom at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School onto the sidewalk below, what she saw left her almost speechless.
Outside, nine members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka, Kan.-based anti-gay group, had gathered in the rainy, windswept night to picket the sold out Nov. 3 showing of “The Laramie Project,” which Chamberlain and her cast-mates were about to perform.
The picketers carried signs with slogans like “God Hates Fags,” and “Pray for More Dead Soldiers” while shouting anti-gay chants.
“I teared up a little when I saw them,” Chamberlain, a 17-year-old senior, recalled of the scene. “I think we all did.”
But across the circle drive in front of the school, more than 50 counter-demonstrators, huddled closely together for protection against the icy wind, drowned out the picketers’ chanting by singing the Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.”
“I was marveling at the futility of what the protestors were doing,” said Chamberlain. “Us doing this show exposed this, but it also showed how much support we have.”
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps and deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, crisscross the country picketing everything from high school graduations to funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The members say organizers of these events promote or condone homosexuality. Phelps’ followers have also said that Hurricane Katrina is an example of God’s wrath at America for its tolerance of gays and lesbians.
Church members routinely picket performances of “The Laramie Project,” in which Phelps is depicted picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old openly gay man who was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. The play focuses on the aftermath of Shepard’s death and the subsequent trials of his killers.
“It was such a teachable moment,” Susan Williams, the play’s assistant director, said after Saturday night’s performance. “It was life imitating art imitating life.”
Last week, a Baltimore federal court ordered the Westboro Baptist Church to pay nearly $11 million in damages to the family of a Marine whose funeral group members disrupted.
The picketers arrived in two vehicles with Massachusetts and Michigan license plates and were escorted to their designated location to the left of the high school’s main entrance by uniformed Acton Police officers. Wearing rain orange rain ponchos, picketers heckled attendees of the play. Phelps was not in attendance.
“You’re teaching your children to hate God,” shouted one woman at two people passing by.
A boy member of the group, who appeared to be no older than 10 years old, stood silently holding a sign reading “God is America’s Terror.”
“For these kids to get sucked into this and not knowing any better is their real crime,” said Peter Shaffery, a 16-year-old junior who stood with the counter demonstrators.
Nine police officers patrolled the 30-foot no-man’s-land between the two groups, while another three stood just inside the back door outside the school’s auditorium. Seven officers stayed throughout the play.
Lt. Tom Rogers would not say how many police officers were patrolling the area. Reached later, he said that there were no incidents.
“Everything went perfectly,” he said. “No hits, no runs, no errors.”
In 2005, group members picketed a Lexington High School graduation and John Glenn Middle School in Bedford, saying that the two schools promote homosexuality.
Several students from Ashland High School who are also preparing to perform the play at their own school joined the counter demonstrators.
“Since we’re doing the same show and getting some of the same backlash, we decided to come and show our support,” said Amelia Cormier, a junior at Ashland High.
Westboro Baptist Church members also picketed services at several local churches in Acton Sunday morning.
“People were very upset that [the picketers] were there,” said Pastor Bob Moore of St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church on Central Street. “They were offended.”
Moore said about 10 picketers showed up around 8 a.m. and left by 8:30 a.m.
The drama department’s decision to put on the play first drew criticism in August from some local parents who said the play unfairly portrayed religious conservatives as bigots and was inappropriate for a high school audience. In October, community members joined with Massresistance, a statewide conservative group, to hold a forum to discuss their opposition to the play.
Local critics never expected to see members of the Kansas group in their backyard.
“[Their] coming wasn’t related to any opposition in town,” said Scott Wilson, one of the first local parents to oppose the play. “Hopefully, most people in Acton recognize this is not a representation of what other people in our community believe.”
Still, Wilson said the play has sparked an important discussion in town that he hopes will continue after the performance.
“I look forward to continuing the dialogue on these issues, and I’ve heard that from both sides,” he said.
Wilson said he has not decided whether or not he will attend the play.
School officials, who have supported the play from the beginning, said that the controversy has forced local residents to consider important issues of tolerance and the roots of prejudices.
“Everything that’s happened has been a real lesson for the community,” said school Superintendent Bill Ryan after the performance. “The school district is in a better place than it’s ever been before.”
Williams said the play was also a step forward for the school’s drama department.
“I think we crossed a threshold,” she said. “It showed that our students can handle grown up issues and real world issues.”
Asked if the drama department was planning any more controversial performances, Williams responded, “I don’t think we’re eager to put the administration through this again anytime soon.”
