Right above the notice that water and sewer bills are due, Montpelier city officials have posted on their Web site today a statement about the planned protests of the Westboro Baptist Church on Tuesday.
The statement, by city manager Bill Fraser, says in part:
The City of Montpelier condemns the Westboro Baptist Church’s message of hate. Surely our high school students, citizens and visitors deserve better than to be subjected to nasty messages denouncing gay people as well as, among many others, Jews, Catholics, fallen soldiers, President Obama and the United States of America.
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It may be tempting to confront and challenge this group verbally, physically or in some form of silent counter protest. In the interest of public safety and order, however, the City government of Montpelier urges people to please ignore this group and simply stay away from the demonstrations.
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For those who feel they must make some sort of counter statement or appearance we urgently request that you do so at the State House Lawn where there is much more room to keep parties separated and does not present the same traffic and safety hazards.
You can read the whole note at: http://www.montpelier-vt.org/notices.cfm#westboro
- Terri Hallenbeck
Labels: Montpelier, same-sex marriage, Vermont
