The Westboro Baptist Church will conduct two protests in Manhattan on Thursday morning.
The church is known for their provocative protests around the country where members carry signs laden with homophobic slurs and celebrations of the deaths of U.S. soldiers.
Their first protest will take place at Manhattan High School West Campus from 7:10 to 7:40 a.m. Members will assemble on the corner of Sunset and Poyntz. According to a release, one reason the church decided to protest in Manhattan because of the city’s ranking as the most LGBT supportive city in Kansas by the Human Rights Coalition.
“The school’s GSA club is at the forefront of this folly and it joins many of the other sin-promoting endeavors in Manhattan for the city’s Little Apple Pride events,” the release by the WBC read.
MHS Principal Greg Hoyt encouraged parents, students and the community in general not to engage protesters in debate or even acknowledging them.
“I’m really hoping that whether its car traffic, students, staff coming in the building, will not pay any attention whatsoever to this abhorrent group and the hateful message that they spread and promote,” Hoyt told KMAN Tuesday.
Hoyt also encouraged students and staff to “wear the bright color of blue — which is the color of acceptance — on Thursday.
“We’re not going to let this hateful group discourage us or diminish us and what we do and what we stand for in any way, shape, form or fashion.”
Later in the morning, WBC picketers will shift their focus to the Landon Lecture at Kansas State University where USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue is scheduled to speak.
“God has cursed this nation with dumb dogs for leaders, so there’s no reason to believe Sonny Perdue
has anything to offer those that he speaks to,” the WBC release on the protest read. “This country is going to hell in a hand basket and he wants to talk about leaving the land better than you found it.”
They will be picketing at McCain Auditorium from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m.
