San Diego High School Phelps-A-Thon
The Phelps-A-Thon was a huge success! We raised over $500 to split between the San Diego High School gay/straight alliance and the San Diego chapter of GLSEN.
Congratulations to everyone that made the Phelps-A-Thon a success!
It is not too late to make a contribution to the Phelps-A-Thon. We are sending Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps a card, telling him how much he raised for LGBT equality. Make a donation today and your amount will be included on that card.
Thank you!
_________________________________________________________________
Fred Phelps’ clan is coming to San Diego High School! The “God Hates Fags
” Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is planning this picket in San Diego because of the school’s strong support for LGBT students.
The Westboro Baptist Church wrote on their website, “Quit Telling Kids It's OK to be Fags. WBC needs to come and show the little brutes what you all have failed to show them - OBEY GOD!” Fred Phelps and his group travel all across the United States spreading their message of hate and lies about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
However, when the Phelps group comes to San Diego High School to protest, they will actually be raising money for LGBT equality at the school!
We are hosting a Phelps-A-Thon to counter Fred Phelps’ hateful message. For every minute the “God Hates Fags” clan is protesting, we will be collecting donations to be split between the San Diego High School Gay/Straight Alliance and the San Diego County chapter of Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). (Pledge Online). GLSEN “strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.”
The Phelps clan will be protesting at the high school for 50 minutes, from 2:10 PM to 3:00 PM on October 16th. You can pledge any amount you chose, whether it be $0.25, $0.50, $1, or even $2 for every minute they protest. You can even pledge a flat rate for the entire time the group will be demonstrating. (Pledge Online)
The point of this Phelps-A-Thon is two fold. First, we are using Phelps’ own hateful message to raise funds for a good cause, one that will help counter the lies that are being spread about LGBT people. Second, After the event, we will send Phelps a thank you card, telling him how much money he raised for LGBT equality. This will certainly upset the group and it is possible that they will stop protesting in order to stop our fundraising.
During a three month trek across the United States in an effort to promote LGBT equality, Chris Mason, Founder of Phelps-A-Thon.com, stopped in Topeka, Kansas to visit the Westboro Baptist Church. He sat down for a conversation with Shirley Phelps, the daughter of Fred Phelps and new leader of the group to get a better understanding of why the groups feels the need to spread hate.
On the “God Hates Fags” website, Phelps has this to say about the upcoming protest at the school:
“San Diego High School - Quit Telling Kids It's OK to be Fags 1405 Park Blvd WBC needs to come and show the little brutes what you all have failed to show them - OBEY GOD! Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Proverbs 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. Proverbs 8:33 Hear 
instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Proverbs 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. Proverbs 19:27 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. Jeremiah 17:23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. The only instruction these poor, no-nothing kids have ever received are lies, lies and more lies. They literally begin to moan and wail when they see and hear any little bit of truth because of the poison of the adults in their lives. It is a sick scene, but also marvelous because our God doeth all things well, and we must see the faces to know Jesus Christ will return shortly. Also to be satisfied, having our senses exercised by these events, satisfied I say that these parents will actually be doing the infants a favor if they just go ahead and eat them instead of doing to them what they have done to these pre-teens and teens in this nation. AMEN!”
We can turn these hateful words into positive change.
Thank you.
A message from Chris Mason, Founder of Phelps-A-Thon.com:
It is unfortunate that WBC has decided to picket San Diego High school. However, there are some positives to be found. The protest is opening up dialogue about the discrimination faced by LGBT people in society and how to combat that homophobia. In addition, thousands of dollars are being raised to benefit LGBT youth at SDHS.
I wish we could completely ignore WBC’s hateful message and place them on a deserted island. But the truth of the matter is that students at SDHS and folks in the community will see and hear their awful message. Many students at SDHS and citizens of San Diego are hurt by WBC's message and are looking for a way to respond. I believe it is right to give the students and community members a positive, productive way to respond to the hateful messages of the Westboro Baptist Church. That is exactly what the Phelps-A-Thon does.
