Aric G.

Bishop

Lamoni Awakening
Brad Benson is a young college student at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Brad,

originally from the Chicago area wasn’t quite used to living in a small town especially one in

Iowa. Brad is a major in Studio Art couldn’t really wrap his mind around how others could hate

one another due to their differences and he feels that everyone human should embrace more in

diversity. There is a secret about “Bradley” as he likes to be called that many people don’t know

about. Benson is a young gay man and when he heard the Westboro Baptist Church was

coming to Graceland Benson felt hurt.

“When I first heard the Westboro Baptist Church was coming,” Brad Benson, a student

at Graceland University and also a young gay man said. “I personally felt hurt. It hurt to realize

that our community would allow people like that to come and protest. I was even shocked at the

university for allowing it. I know they tried to protest at Northwest and it was seen as a hate

group and their invitation was revoked, and I guess I was a little shocked we didn’t do it at

Graceland.”

Bradley later went on to discuss how proud he felt that schools around the area came to

counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church and how it made him feel at the sheer number that

came out that night.

“I was shocked to be honest,” Benson said. “I wasn’t really expecting a lot of

people to come and support this, but thy did and as a young gay man who has finally come out

to his family and friends it feels good to realize that there are people out there who will accept

me as human being. Nothing less, and nothing more, and that I too deserve the same rights as

any other human.”

The Kansas-based church demonstrated one of its infamous protests against

homosexuality in on Friday, March 5. The Westboro Baptist Church, led by Fred Phelps and

predominately attended by members of his own family, announced on their Web site that they
 Aric G. Bishop

would be protesting at Graceland University, a college in Lamoni, Iowa that has been known for

its strong religious ties. The protest was held in conjunction with a production of “The Laramie

Project” by Graceland’s theater department. The play features the reaction to the 1998 murder

of Matthew Shepard, a gay student who attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie and

was beaten and hung on a post to die. Members of the Phelps family are depicted in the play for

picketing Shepard’s funeral.

“What these people represent is entirely contradictory to true Christian ideals,” Meghann

Kosman, a student at Northwest Missouri University said while preparing herself for the counter-

protest. “What really upsets me the most about them is their unwillingness to accept anything

that doesn’t fit into their particular religion and totally disregard others ideas. If you don’t agree

with their church then you’re going to hell.”

The Westboro Baptist Church posted on their website a press release containing all the

information for their intended travel to the small town in Iowa. They also clearly depicted the

churches views that Judy Shepard, Matt Shepard’s mother, raised her son to be a “disobedient

pervert, and that God cut that child off.” It also goes on say that Matt Shepard has been “in Hell

now for 11 years, with eternity left to on his sentence-without appeal, parole, or time off for good

behavior.” They later end their press release with sayings such as “God Hates Fags, God hates

Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates fag-infested & fag-enabling Lamoni, IA and all having to do with

spreading sodomite lies via The Laramie Project.” The leader of the church, Fred Phelps has

even said this about the word “fags” to refer to all homosexual persons and those who support

same-sex attractions and homosexual beliefs.

“God Hates Fags,” Fred Phelps pasture of the Westboro Baptist Church said. “It’s not

only true, but it’s profound and it’s divine. And we are intent on publishing that message to the

world. God indeed hates fags.”

The Westboro Baptist has been known for their anti-gay signs, walking and blowing their

noses on the American flag and for their long history of picketing dead soldiers calling them
 Aric G. Bishop

“fag-enablers” and for protecting a nation that supports homosexuality. The Laramie Project, a

nation that supports homosexuality, homosexuality and anything that threatens their beliefs

within their particular church.

“They are horrible and outright cruel to everyone,” Cassie Nettle, a Northwest Missouri

State University student who attended the picket said. “It is hardly an issue of gay or straight. It

is an issue of whether you cut your hair or not. It is an issue of what kind of music to which you

listen. It is an issue of belonging to or fighting for the United States of America. Their religion in

my eyes is a cult based on ‘hate’. When I was

younger, my parents taught me that ‘hate’ is not a

word to use toward other people or anything. It is a

cruel word and these people show it toward

everyone.”

While the church has the right to express

their views, Graceland, as a private university has the

right to prevent them from coming onto campus.

Arrangements had been made with Lamoni Police

Westboro Baptist Church signs
Chief Dale Killpack for the family to picket at and protestors. Picture courtesy of
the Associated Press.
smoker’s corner and counter demonstrators would be

placed across the street with barricades set up on both sides of the street.

The Phelps arrived to the picket in a creepy manner when they emerged from the

darkness that had descended upon Lamoni a few minutes before 7 pm. A dark van with tinted

windows pulled into a house driveway right next to what local students refer to as, “the smoker’s

corner” across from the McDowell Commons facing the university. Five adults and a little boy

about seven-years-old got out of the van and took their place on the sidewalk.
 Aric G. Bishop

“One of the saddest things was to see that seven-year-old boy with the sign,” Jon

Hetherington a student from Graceland said. “God hates fags. I even recalled one mother

seeing the little boy and saying, ‘This breaks my heart. I would like to take him home with me.”

The Westboro Baptist Church has been known to get vocal about their beliefs and ideas,

but on this night they remained silent as they were greeted by more than one hundred counter-

protestors from neighboring

schools, students from Graceland

University and Northwest Missouri

State University Bearcats.

“I was expecting them to be

hurling offensive profanities at us,”

Paige Webberly, a student at

Graceland said. “But they just

stood there, holding their signs

Counter-protestors from Lamoni Community,
and silently preaching their Graceland University and Northwest Missouri State
University. Picture courtesy of Lamoni Chronicle.
messages of hate. Nonetheless,

you could feel the tension in the air, and although the protest was silent, it was still an intense

situation.”

The Phelps family came with only seven members, but the counter-protest was

made up of one hundred people that had been early and had been waiting at smoker’s corner

for the Westboro Baptist Church to show up. The Phelps may have wanted this to occur,

because as one spectator said the Phelps would walk away with their voices heard.

“No matter how tonight ends,” Kosman said. “The Phelps will walk away with what they

wanted the right to preach their message of hate and to get their views out there.”
 Aric G. Bishop

Attending this picket was an opportunity for the town of Lamoni and the Graceland

community to come together even strong and voice their opinions. Even students from abroad

came out to partake in the picket.

“I recognize the worth of all persons, and I wanted to stand up for those who I feel are

unfairly judged,” Sally Norton, a native of Ireland and a foreign exchange student from

Graceland said. “I witnessed students, faculty and friends gathering to show unconditional love

for each other.”

The Phelps left just how the same way they came. They creeped their way back to their

van slide the door shut and pulled out of the driveway. Shirley stopped in front of the protestors

and blew her nose on the American flag and rolled down her window to speak to Sheriff Bert

Muir. Muir told them the sheriff’s department would guide them out of the county. With police

cars in front and behind them, the Westboro Baptist Church was escorted from the state of

Iowa.

“I was really proud of the Graceland and Lamoni community,” Christy Pratt of Lamoni,

chairwoman of the Gay Straight Alliance at Graceland University said. “Basically for all the

support they showed for our counter-protest.”

©Aric Bishop 2010