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Online petition wants Westboro Baptist Church classified as a hate group
File photo of picketers with Westboro Baptist Church, December 2012.
Courtesy: CNN

SACRAMENTO-

The Westboro Baptist Church is possibly protesting two events in Northern California this week: a soldier’s funeral and a high school play in Granite Bay.

The group, who routinely protests at military funerals, announced on their website GodHatesFags.com, they will be in Truckee on Saturday for the funeral of Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Collins. Collins served in the Navy, and was among those killed when a helicopter crashed off the coast of Virginia earlier this month.

According to Westboro’s flier about their protest Saturday, they believe “Military funerals have become pagan orgies of idolatrous blasphemy… Soldiers die for WBC’s right to preach. To deny us our First Amendment rights is to declare to the word that American soldier die in vain, and that America is a nation of … hypocrites.”

The organization also tweeted they are planning some sort of protest or appearance at Granite Bay High School because of their production of “The Laramie Project”. The play is about the 1998 hate-crime death of Matthew Shepard, and includes scenes representing the Westboro Baptist Church. The church is known for their anti-gay rhetoric.

Westboro’s twitter account posted “WBC, in love, to picket @GraniteBayHigh…”. They also tweeted they will be picketing at another production of “The Laramie Project”, at Keystone College in Pennslyvania.

The Granite Bay High School protest is not listed on their official website, so it is not known what size of demonstration will show up when the play starts next week.