The Westboro Baptist Church has some colorful new neighbors. The Florida-based nonprofit Planting peace has just debuted their Equality House situated directly across from the controversial Baptist church just outside of Topeka, KS.
The folks at Planting Peace wanted to send a message to the widely-maligned members of the Westboro Baptist Church who are famous for their homophobic protests of gay American soldiers and others. Planting Peace's plan was simple: bring a bit more color to the neighborhood.
They decided to purchase a house for sale across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church, and after months in the making, yesterday the Equality House was unveiled fully-clad in the rainbow colors synonymous with the LGBT movement.
"We walked around Westboro's neighborhood on Google street view and thought: 'It would be awesome to get a house right there and paint it rainbow,' " says Project Peace director of operations Davis Hammet.
The unveiling of the Equality Center was scheduled for last month, but got delayed due to a nasty Kansas snowstorm that blew through the region. During preparation Hammet kept a low-profile that still had its share of surreal moments.
"Before we launched, we tried to keep quiet. Shortly after I moved in, someone from Wetsboro almost backed over me in her car. It was an accident, and she apologized. But it was bizarre-this hate-filled person smiling and waving at me."
The Equality House will likely be used as an activist training center that will double as a high-profile location to raise awareness of LGBT issues. Hammet says Planting Peace also hopes to use the publicity from their new location to help launch an anti-bullying campaign, among other causes.
This new development in the saga that is the Westboro Baptist Church comes on the heels of claims made by a former church member that founder Fred Phelps's anti-gay views may have come from an early homosexual experience. Lauren Drain has suggested that following a gay encounter at around 17, Phelps decided to switch his life's calling from the military to a crusade against "sexual immorality."
So far the Westboro Baptist Church has not had any formal reaction to the debut of the Equality House, it does not appear that they are particularly upset by these latest developments. Church member Margie Phelps was quick to tweet:
"Ooh! Let me help. Millions see "God H8s Fags!" MT @Planting_Peace: Painting house "gay"colors across from Westboro."
