Hammons Hall : Springfield MO : 7/8/10

Admin Posts : 4524 Join date : 2009-06-28

525 South John Q Hammons Parkway

Springfield MO

Kansas Church To Protest Lambert Concert

Quote :: Estimates say more than two hundread people, some from as far away as three states, lined the street in front of Juanita K Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts Saturday evening. As previously mentioned however, they were not from the publicly criticized Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas, rather members of the community coming together to show their support not only for the concert, but for issuse such as gay marriage.

The Kansas based church again would not awnser request for comment on why they choose not to protest. Leaders of the “anti hate protesters” however said it turned in to a community celebration instead.

Event leader, Adam Crawford, said the following to supporters via a Facebook message, “And finally, while part of me hopes the WBC will drift into obscurity forever, never to be seen or heard from again…the part of me that knows that they won’t stop is kinda excited for their inevitable return. Because tonight, we proved to the community and to ourselves that we can unite under a common cause. We can meet such unadulterated hatred and bigotry with humor, love, and acceptance. Now just imagine what could happen next time, when we know more than two days ahead of time! I can’t wait to find out.”

Westboro Baptist counter-protest at Adam Lambert concert in Missouri draws 200

Quote :: Westboro Baptist Church members promised a "God Hates Fags" protest outside the sold-out Adam Lambert concert in Springfield, Missouri, on Aug. 7.

But when an estimated 200 counter-protesters showed up at the Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, waving placards with sayings such as "It’s OK to Be Gay," the Westboro Church protesters were apparently nowhere to be found.

Still, the openly gay singer (a frequent target of WBC ire) came out to greet his supporters and autograph their protest signs; tweeted his outrage at the "Westboro Bastard Church of Ignorance"; and kissed a male bandmate during his show, adding: "Suck on this, Westboro."

This all raises the question: is it playing into WBC's hands to fight fire with fire? Or is it better to ignore provocateurs?

The Westboro Baptist Church recently announced plans -- including date, time and place -- to picket Adam Lambert's Aug. 7 concert in Springfield, Missouri.

This early warning gave the opposition time to form. A college student led a group of protestors -- including both concert-goers and those who weren't planning to attend -- to stand across the street from the venue, waving signs with messages such as "All You Need is Love" and "Gay is OK." About 200 people turned out, with no sign of the WBC protestors. Lambert appeared at one point to thank the group and sign autographs.

Here is video of the counter-demonstration:

Quote :: Lambert’s brother, Neil, a production assistant on Lambert’s summer tour, tweeted a link to video showing more of the signs.

Quote :: Lambert himself took to Twitter, slamming the WBC protestors with this message:

Amazing Anti-Hate protest outside venue. Completely outnumbered the Westboro Bastard Church of Ignorance. Love overcomes hate. I LOVE FAGS!!

Quote :: Later, during his concert, Lambert kissed male bass-player Tommy Joe Ratliff (the recipient of Lambert’s controversial American Music Awards kiss last November) during his song, "Fever" (which features the lyric, "There he goes, my baby, walks so slow")— and then said, "Suck on that, Westboro."

Quote :: Lambert is not a new target of Westboro Church protesters. A handful appeared at his concert in July in Kansas City, MO. He also was picketed by Westboro during the American Idols Live tour last summer.

If the Westboro pickets hope to be having an effect on Lambert’s career, they are not succeeding, as his Glam Nation concert tour is a virtual sell-out nationwide, at a time when many acts are having difficulty filling venues.

The group also has protested at concerts by Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, to similar lack of effect, given both entertainers’ successes.

So, why bother to hold counter-protests against such an ineffective group of provocateurs? Isn’t providing publicity to publicity-seekers the wrong approach?

Or are counter-measures important ways to rally supporters and show the larger community (especially in a "Real America" town such as Springfield, Missouri) that Westboro’s messages of intolerance are unacceptable?

Even if anti-WBC pickets aren't needed to demonstrate this message, they sure can be entertaining, as last month's ridiculing of WBC by counter-protesters at San Diego's Comic-Con showed