Recently my partner Cindy was in Rhode Island, on her way to our LGBT Wedding Expo in Seekonk, MA (which was great, btw!) ...Cruising through Rhode Island, she happened upon a protest near a high school there and stopped to see what was going on.

The followers of Fred Phelps were there, apparently standing in opposition to the gay outreach program that the high school offered to its students. The Phelps' signs were the usual: 'God hates America,' 'Gays go to Hell' 'Faggots eat their babies,' etc etc. Lovely.

Cindy always comments that if none of us showed up to these so-called protests, then Phelps and his Westboro Church-goers would have no one to rally against, and therefore fade away into non-existence. But I guess we all can't help it: the rally brought out far more participants than did our LGBT Wedding Expo later that weekend! The media was at the rally in droves, cameras rolling, students were out in great numbers anti-protesting, even members of the nearby community came out to stand on the busy streetcorner to wave their own signs against Phelps' ideals.

Cindy was heartened to see just how many straight allies joined the moment. She spoke to at least two different parents of lesbian high school students, who were simply there to make it known that they were proud of their children and that none of the Phelps' accusations meant any logical sense.

Hetero- high school students were there as well, waving signs and standing alongside their classmates... and standing up for the gay-straight alliance that is an intrinsic part of their school's commitment to its community.

Cindy thought it was fantastic. -A solid showing of just how passionate our advocates and allies can be, even when taking time one afternoon to oppose a very small faction of 8 or 10 Phelps followers.

As 10% of the population, we require the support of our advocates. Let's all remember to thank them as we can for their efforts and their investment to a true vision of equality for all!

Marianne Puechl, co-founder
Same Love, Same Rights
rwneditor@gmail.com