US: Group to put up God Loves Gays billboards in ‘God Hates Fags’ church’s hometown

PinkNews logo on pink background with rainbow corners.

A group has raised over $40,000 in order to buy ‘God Loves Gays’ billboards in the hometown of the Westboro Baptist Church.

The anti-gay church, known for their ‘God Hates Fags’ banners, announced last week that they would picket any memorial for the actor, who starred as a gay man in The Birdcage and cross-dressed in Mrs Doubtfire.

Creators of a popular spoof ‘God’ Facebook page have now launched a ‘God Loves Gay People’ campaign, which aims to advertise its message of love and inclusiveness in Topeka, Kansas, where the homophobic church is based.

The crowdfunding campaign has so far raised over $41,000 towards billboards in the town, which is nearly enough to secure 12 months of billboard advertising around the church.

The God Loves Gays website states: “When people see villains such as Westboro existing in the world, and no one doing anything about it, it disheartens them greatly.

“They lose faith in humanity and in the world. This has all kinds of negative consequences across all life. The message we are sending transcends this particular issue.

“Some people will argue that it is better to ignore the bigots, that all that Westboro wants is more attention. That it’s better for good people to do nothing, to ignore the evil and just wait for it to go away.

“While I respect this opinion, I contend that evil is only allowed to exist because good people do nothing.

“It’s time to send a message to these bigots. You want to come to other people’s funerals to promote hate?

“We’ll come to where you live to promote love!”

Pro-gay group Planting Peace has so far raised over $50,000 towards one of Robin Williams’ favourite charities, St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

The group last year set up a Pride-themed Equality House opposite the church,