Posted on 02/08/2007 6:39:59 AM PST by Nextrush
The students stood on the stage of York Suburban High School Wednesday night and chatted with each other, giggling and smiling.
They were preparing to rehearse "The Laramie Project," the play they will perform tonight and Saturday. The play deals with the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepherd near Laramie, Wyo. The school's drama club picked diversity as a theme this year, and chose three plays that fit the theme.
This choice has drawn controversy after Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, announced its plan to picket the play's Saturday performance............
Members of the drama club expressed pride in the play's message.
"It's not promoting any type of lifestyle," said A. J. Gailairdi. "It says hate is out there, and it won't be tolerated."
Liz Leavens, 14, said, "The theme is accepting diversity and getting to know different lifestyles out there."
Paul Lajkowicz, the drama club advisor and play's director, cited a line from the play that talks about how all murders are hate crime.
"This is just another example of how murders occur for a variety of reasons," he said......................
Lajkowicz said school officials held meetings with students and parents informing them of what might take place Saturday. They were told to ignore the picketers and continue the production........
(Excerpt) Read more at ydr.com ...
The official line is that a "gay college student" was murdered.
Westboro Baptist is in the mix making this an ugly mess that can only benefit the homosexual agenda.
Where do they come from? Their website lists this picket with at least half a dozen others on the same day all over the country.
By the way what is diversity? My thoughts in a post: www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775016/posts
ping
Was he a gay college student?
I thought he was a drug using prostitute that, like many other drug using prostitutes, ended up getting killed by a couple johns.
Its almost as if his dead body was useful for a propaganda campaign.
Whoa...whether he was a gay prostitute or not, what happened was a tragedy. There is a special place in hell for the people who picketed his funeral...these are the same "Christians" (clearly, they are not) that picket US servicemembers funerals. Disgusting.
That is a vicious smear and there is no evidence supporting it. WHy do you have to diminish a guy who was clearly victimized because of his sexual orientation? Whether or not you agree with homosexuality or The Laramie Project, you do agree they shouldn't be beaten, robbed and killed?
The murderers even tried to use the "gay panic defense" for crying out loud. Temporary insanity because a gay man may have came on to them.
I think Westboro Baptist and the wacko family running the church should be the ones charged with crimes against humanity. Their tactics and message does nothing to advance any discussion but hate.
No, he was a college student.
Whoa...whether he was a gay prostitute or not, what happened was a tragedy.
Apparently, the parents don't mind their kids getting the homo PC brainwash. The community should shun the parents, and not let their kids hang around with this bunch.
Bad company corrupts good character. The school should also be ashamed of itself for this little stunt.
Maybe the community could elect new board members next time so it doesn't happen again.
That is a vicious smear and there is no evidence supporting it.
Better they picket this abomination than mess with our fallen heros.
Actually, I believe the media attention was cranked up after these Westboro freaks picketed the guys funeral. Can you imagine picketing the funeral of someone who was brutally murdered? What a bunch of total-a-holes.
I think it is equally disgusting.
Go to this link and read the story: perps, investigator and prosecutor all say it was not about Shepherd being gay.
ABC News did story on 20/20.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1
A fascinating proposition. The local Red Cross director resigned recently from the school board when he took a new job in Las Vegas with their Red Cross.
They replaced him with a woman who has served on the board at Messiah College, a school that is considered a "Christian school."
Another board member is related to a prominent evangelical pastor in our community.
The rest of the nine are the standard rubber stamp, tax-spend etc. people we have on school boards around here.
But I'll be honest with you, the two I mentioned above are as quiet as mice about this.
Prostitutes get killed all the time. It isn't big news at all. So Shepherd was a queer. Big deal.
What about the little 10 year old boy that got tortured and killed by 2 North American Man/Boy Love Association members that same year? Where was the press? Where's his movie and book deal? What about a play for him? The silence was deafening, because his story stood in the way of the liberal agenda.
The homos were the killers, so they were media exempt. Their killings were politically correct. The straight kids story wasn't "worthy of media attention"
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