king5.com
Credit: Olympia School District
Outside Olympia High School, June 7, 2012
KING5.com
Posted on June 7, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Updated today at 10:49 AM
Community members met the Westboro Baptist Church head on across Olympia Thursday morning.
The ill-famed hate group from Kansas protested Washington's gay marriage law and Referendum 74, holding offensive signs outside the state Capitol building, the Thurston County Auditor's Office and Olympia High School.
But Westboro was met by a counter protest at most every location they targeted.
At Olympia High School, hundreds of students and staff stood out in the early morning rain to overshadow the Westboro demonstration. Students were encouraged to wear school colors, to not make signs and to not engage with anyone from Westboro.
Speeches about unity and love were broadcast over loudspeakers.
"We respect our peers for who they are and not for who we wish them to be," one student told the crowd.
Several students wore shirts featuring a blue heart and the phrase "OLY Love" on it.
At the Thurston County Auditor's Office, one counter protester held a sign that read, "Hell is gonna be fabulous."
Westboro also publicized their intent on protesting at the funeral of one of the victims of last week's shootings in Seattle. The group also planned to appear outside the King County Administration building at 11:00 a.m.
Information compiled by KING 5's Lindsay Chamberlain
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