Anti-Gay Group Is A No-Show At Naval Academy

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND - Talk about a silent protest.
Members of a Kansas church notorious for its graphic anti-gay rhetoric pulled a no-show at the Naval Academy yesterday, despite getting a protest permit from the city.
The absence of the Westboro Baptist Church and its leader, the Rev. Fred Phelps, was a pleasant surprise to religious and civil rights leaders who denounced the extremists in a scheduled City Hall news conference anyway.
"Quite candidly, we've had enough of bigots coming into the city," said Carl O. Snowden, a civil rights activist and aide to County Executive Janet S. Owens.
The city first learned of the Topeka-based church's travel plans a week and a half ago, when Mayor Ellen O. Moyer got a warning letter from Topeka's mayor.
With his neon-colored signs and offensive language, the Rev. Phelps has drawn outrage for his protests nationwide. At the 1998 funeral of gay lynching victim Matthew Shepard, the Rev. Phelps led protesters who held signs reading "Matt in Hell."
More recently, the church has picketed the funerals of West Virginia coal miners and soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On its Web site, the church links American military losses, Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
Last October, gay and lesbian activists entered the academy grounds to try to talk to midshipmen. And a group of gay and lesbian academy graduates has been stymied in its efforts to form an alumni association chapter.
Under the federal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, service members are barred from coming out or engaging in same-sex acts, and authorities aren't allowed to ask about their sexual orientation.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church's lawyer and the Rev. Phelps' daughter, said Thursday the church was coming to Annapolis to protest the academy's acceptance of gays.
"There are only two kinds of people in the Navy ranks today: gays and their enablers," she said.
Church representatives could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon. The Annapolis protest was to be part of a series of pickets this weekend of Loyola College in Baltimore and Baltimore-area churches.
Yesterday's news conference was timed to take place before the protest, which was to be from 12:30 to 1 p.m. in front of Gate 1 at King George and Randall streets.
Michael J. Keller, chairman of the city Human Relations Commission, said it was important for the community to take a vocal stand against hate.
"If these people do show up here, they should know that they are not welcome and never will be welcome in Annapolis," he said.
Clergy at the news conference accused the Rev. Phelps of twisting Christianity to suit his hateful purposes.
"Whenever Christianity is used as a weapon to hurt others, it is not Christianity," said the Rev. Chris Holmes, district superintendent of the Annapolis District of the United Methodist Church.
from The Capital