Brody's Notes... East Lansing High School Student Recognised For Organising Peaceful Counter Protest Against Westboro Baptist Church

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) DEC 10 | An East Lansing, Michigan high school junior peacefully countered a protest by the notorious Westboro Baptist Church last month at his school.
On Tuesday, December 7th, 17 year old Ian Hoopingarner, was awarded a resolution by the East Lansing City Council in recognition of his networking with five local organizations to raise more than $1200 and gathering the  hundreds of volunteers in the peaceful protest against Westboro.

“I feel very strongly about these issues,” Ian Hoopingarner said. “Immediately after we heard about this I think a lot of people were angry and they wanted to do something, but they didn’t have any positive way to channel that energy. I think that is important that we stepped up with a way that they could positively channel that energy.”

Hoopingarner teamed up with other students at ELHS to initiate a fundraiser in accordance with the counter-protest Peace Party and the Sweep Away the Hate Program that was created in response to the Westboro Baptist Church protest. The fundraiser, which raised a total of $1,210, was made possible by donations collected at the rally and online.

Hoopingarner said that the proceeds will go toward local groups such as the Alliance of Queer and Ally Students at MSU, the ELHS Gay Straight Alliance and Lansing Area AIDS Network. Along with these local organizations, profits will be contributed to state and nation-wide organizations including Equality Michigan, AIDS Research Alliance and Southern Poverty Law Center. The group plans to make their donations in the name of the Westboro Baptist Church.

The school's newspaper, The Spartan Edge, reported that WBC, infamous for its protests of soldiers' funerals, staged a protest outside East Lansing High School on Nov. 18. According to East Lansing High School Principal Paula Steele, the protesters were in East Lansing because Margie Phelps was invited to a demonstration at the MSU College of Law, and then family members decided to come to ELHS in response to a letter of opposition sent by one of the students at the high school.

“I really think the day went amazingly well. The students were very respectful,” Steele said. “They turned it into an opportunity to really show the unity of our student body, and I’m very proud of that.”

According to Spartan Edge student reporter Kelsie Thompson, three members of the church were present at the school to protest. Along with shirts promoting their website, www.godhatesfags.com, and upside-down American flags hung from their clothing, the church members held signs with phrases including, “You hate your kids,” “God hates fag enablers” and “America is doomed.”

“We are here because these kids have been lied to by their parents, their preachers and their teachers,” said Margie Phelps, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church. “They are entitled to some truth for a change”

Councilman Council member Nathan Triplett read the resolution, which thanked Hoopingarner for his "significant contribution to planning a successful celebration of diversity that eclipsed the negative message of the WBC."

"This could have been a real black eye for our community," Triplett said, "and instead folks like Ian came together and turned it into something I think we can all be proud of."