It's the first time that I've cried when I've seen them, and I have seen them several times. They are the people from the Westboro Baptist Church. Their slogan is "God Hates Fags."
They are the kind of people who hate me immediately just because I'm a lesbian. Unfortunately, they are also the first people that I saw at the Parade of Gold this past Saturday. They had an assortment of signs saying, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," "Fags Doom Nations," "God is Your Enemy," "Thank God for Dead Cops," "They Are Not Heroes," and "God Hates Michael Phelps." Instead of focusing on the achievements of Olympians Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, the church used the parade as a way to get their message of hate out.
The WBC is a church run by Rev. Fred Phelps, which was started in Topeka, Kansas. They are known for condemning members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community, Muslims and Jews.
The church grabbed the attention of the nation by protesting at Iraq War soldiers' funerals.
The sign holders were at the corner of Cross Campus Drive and York Road with police officers barricading them from the parade. Nonetheless, everyone in the parade and in that section could see the hateful signs.
Police officers were guarding them even though they were "Thanking God" for dead cops. Service men and women were parading down York Road reading the signs "Thanking God" for those who have fallen while fighting with them.
More importantly, the returning champions came home to signs saying they were not heroes and that God hates one of them.
The church blames the "fags," Muslims and Jews for the problems in America, but it is not these minority groups' fault. The real problem in America is that people like this feel the need to spew out hatred and ignorance. This is an injustice in our nation.
This is just one of the many reasons Towson students need to stand against hatred and ignorance, even if we don't all agree on things.
I think we can agree that hatred fuels people to kill, and that ignorance leads to self-loathing and self-destructive behavior. It is not enough to just look the other way; we need to talk about it, fix it, fight against it, and we need to speak up. Maybe if we all took the time to fight an injustice, one day I will be able to go to a Parade of Gold and see nothing but pride.
Theresa Macheski is a junior pyschology major with a minor in LGBT and women's studies. She is the president of the Queer Student Union.
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