Rally this Friday at Havana's

I may already have sent you a notice about this... A friend of a friend though sent me this link to a documentary on the Westboro Church and their message of hate on Youtube. Please watch it. It will give you a very clear idea just what sort of hateful verbal assault is waiting for the theatre goers...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7735501683185935638

On the surface, they seem so wacky and outrageous that they can't be dangerous... The truth is that these people have influence and express the unspoken opinions of a significant swath of America's and even Canada's Evangelical Christian society.

When I first sent out this message I mostly addressed it to friends and contacts in the LGBT community, but i now think it is important to send this out to all our friends and allies...

I am not sure just type of response is best... They are here to get attention and obviously they have already been successful in that. Part of me is thinking that a huge crowd of silent, non-reactive people is the best counter demonstration that we could possibly give back... That if we descend to their level, that we won't accomplish much... My dream would be that we could get such a large crowd out around the theatre that we would be able to keep the Westboro wackos and their anti-gay rants far enough away from the theatre that the people going to see the Laramie Project would be able to see the play in peace. We are not going to change the Westboro people's minds. Their mindset goes beyond fossilization... but if we accomplished that one thing they would have failed to disrupt the play and stopped its important message.

The neat thing is that the show is going on in the heart of Commercial Drive, perhaps Vancouver's most progressive, politically aware and gay supportive neighbourhood... I am confident that we can get a good crowd out there... I am just hoping that our response is articulate and focussed as well as massive and unequivocal.

James Johnstone
703 Hawks Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6A 3J2
CANADA 604-254-4666
www.homehistoryresearch.com

Original message below.

Subject: westboro baptist church rally

Hey everybody
You may have heard that an anti-gay group from Kansas is coming to Vancouver next week to protest the performance of "The Laramie Project" at Havana Theatre (Commercial Drive). I am attending an anti-hate rally that is planned to start on Friday, November 28th at 5pm at Havana's... We have to stand up to these lunatics who show up inappropriately at funerals and other events, carrying signs that read "God Hates Fags". It would be awesome if we all showed up to support our gay and lesbian friends and family. Thanks!

I'm attaching a link to a CBC news article about this :
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/11/19/bc-westboro-church-protest-vancouver-laramie-project.html?ref=rss

I am passing this on - please do likewise!

James Johnstone
703 Hawks Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6A 3J2
CANADA 604-254-4666
www.homehistoryresearch.com