By Liz Welch, Fair is Fair MontanaHate is not a Montana value. Montana families are open and inclusive. Bozeman churches do not want to be associated with hate and negativity. Why then did the Westboro Baptist Church chose Bozeman to show their unique and highly offensive brand of free speech and anti-gay sentiment?
WBC
"Who is this group that's coming? And I realized ... it's Fred Phelps and my heart just dropped. I can't believe they're coming. Why us? Out of all the schools, why us?" —Daisy Renazco, Gunn High School teacher02/2011—Above is one of NIOT.org's most popular videos, "Gunn High School Sings Away Hate Group," which has garnered more than 225,000 views on our YouTube channel. Ellen DeGeneres, in a Tweet, said she was "so unbelievably proud of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA for demonstrating love & acceptance in a peaceful way."What's significant about this video is that it showcases how a community can stand up to hate in a peaceful and constructive way. The video was shot in 2010, when the Kansas hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps' family) announced they would picket Bay Area schools and Jewish institutions. The students of Gunn High School, located in Palo Alto, Calif., decided they could not sit quietly.
Charleston, West VA, Video and Slideshow. A positive wave of energy has emerged from West Virginia, as people in Charleston and Wheeling spread love in the face of the Westboro Baptist hate group. Stop the Hate Rallies, Spread the Love flash mobs, and yard signs of unity dramatically overwhelmed the bigoted placards carried by the Fred Phelps family (known as Westboro Baptist Church) The small band of bigots—known for their anti-gay venom-- targeted Jewish and Catholic institutions and a local university in Charleston. Horrifically, as news from the Montcoal Mine disaster became more tragic, the hate group also targeted the community of fallen miners.