Dennis Deery

The UW-Stout community was saddened last week by a tragic house fire that resulted in the deaths of three students. The opportunistic nut-jobs at Westboro Baptist Church, known for showing up at military funerals to tout their belief that God is punishing the U.S. for its acceptance of gays, decided this was another golden opportunity to show the world the depths of their hatred. Their four protesters showed up on the Menomonie campus last Thursday bearing placards with statements such as “God Hates Fags” and other well-known bible verses. They were greeted by a crowd of students, faculty and townspeople estimated to number 1,000. While the counter protest wasn’t entirely peaceful (one student was arrested for stealing signs from the Westboro protesters), the locals did manage to make the fine point that the Westboro message wasn’t welcome in Menomonie. After less than ¹⁄₂ hour doing God’s work, the Westboro folks tucked tail between their legs and scooted out of town, presumably to crawl back down their little hole in the ground. A representative from the church commented to the newspaper:

“I have to tell you the brutish children of Wisconsin are a cut above the rest in their rebellion and disobedience and filthy behavior.”

Ahhh, makes a person proud to be child of Wisconsin!

Badger Herald - Four Westboro Baptists meet 1,000 protesters at UW-Stout