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Gay rights groups on defense at Cal game

By Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Monday November 18, 2002

 

The most intense standoff at UC Berkeley’s Memorial football Stadium Saturday was not on the gridiron, but at a nearby grove of trees where eight anti–gay protesters were ultimately laughed off by a contingent of student counter-demonstrators. 

The protesters, who held signs that read “God Hates Fags,” and “Thank God for Sept. 11”, were the sons, daughters and teenage granddaughters of anti-gay crusader Fred Phelps.  

Phelps runs the Topeka, Kan. Westboro Baptist Church, whose members, nearly all of whom are family members, travel the country preaching that gays and anyone who rejects the Phelps’ interpretation of the bible will ultimately burn in hell. 

The Phelps family came to the East Bay this weekend to protest two performances of the “Laramie Project,” a play about a town’s reaction to a gay man’s murder, at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland and Newark Memorial High School near Fremont.  

As is common practice for the family, the Phelpses decided to add a local football game to their protest itinerary. 

“We came to protest the plays, but figured since we were in the area and we knew the Golden Bears football team is a haven for fag propaganda, we’d come here too,” said Timothy Phelps, one of Fred Phelps’ 13 children. 

The two-hour protest, in a heavily-wooded area just south of Memorial Stadium, was peaceful and marked more by the restraint shown by the approximately 80 counter-protesters than by the vitriolic slogans chanted by the Phelpses. 

Berated by chants, such as “hey hey, ho ho, you filthy maggots have to go,” the students remained calm. They flanked the Phelpses on two sides and stood about 40 feet away behind rainbow flags. 

“I’m really proud of the people in our group,” said Shelley Facente, a UC Berkeley graduate student and one of the student organizers. “Some people think the most powerful way to send a message is to sing and chant, but I think we showed that a large group of people standing in solidarity sends a more powerful message.” 

Not every counter-protester adopted the silent method.  

About 20 members of the Spartacus Youth Club, a revolutionary Marxist group, joined the student protest lines and let loose a litany of chants, each one answered by the Phelps family.  

The back and forth exchanges occasionally crossed the line from hateful to borderline comedic. At one point, Timothy Phelps broke out into an operatic tenor and sang a tune he called “God Hates America,” a parody of the well–known patriotic song. 

While students said they did not begrudge Spartacus members their free speech, several chose to move away from the Marxists so as not to be confused with them.  

“We moved when they started yelling. We didn’t want this to be angry or violent protest,” said Danee Pye, a UC Berkeley Junior. 

One person was arrested by Berkeley Police for spray painting one of the Phelpses while they were still in their car, but the actual protest remained peaceful. Police would not release any further information on the arrest. 

“We really can’t ask for anything [more peaceful] that this,” said Lt. Adon Tejada, who commanded about 15 officers at the protest site. 

While the protest seemed tense when it began at 10:30 a.m., it grew less formal as time went by. Towards the end, around 12:30 p.m., several surprised football fans approached the Phelps’ to express their disgust. 

“I’m trying to understand how they could take the Bible and turn it into such a force for hate,” said UC Berkeley Sophomore Jeremy Warms after a brief exchange with the Phelpses on his way to the football game. 

The student protesters also let their guard down as the protest neared its finish. Several students began to totally ignore the Phelpses and laugh and joke among themselves. 

“I think they were so proud of what they were doing, they felt kind of relieved and were able to laugh and be positive,” Facente said. 

She and other organizers had learned of the Phelpses planned protest in September and sent e-mails to gay and lesbian university groups to alert them of the confrontation. 

Billy Curtis, an employee of the university’s Gender and Equity Resource Center, explained that during the organizing meetings students stressed that their purpose would not be to shout down the Phelpses but to be a presence so that the football fans and other passers-by could see that students oppose the Phelps message. 

Timothy Phelps seemed surprised by the students’ tranquil response. At one point he told his niece, “It’s too quiet here.” The two then shouted “Matthew Sheppard is burning in hell,” alluding to the Wyoming man who was murdered in 1998 for being gay. 

The students refused to take the bait. 

“Fred Phelps is losing,” said Patrick Conner, a UC Berkeley junior. “In the end he’s drawing us together and making us stronger.” 

 

Contact reporter at  

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net