Westboro Baptist Church protest over transgender athlete forces East Valley to end school early Friday

Eight members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church protested silently Friday afternoon in front of a completely empty East Valley High School.

Both East Valley Middle School and the high school let their students go home for the afternoon rather than subject them to Westboro’s infamous and hateful signs. By the time the protest started, only a dozen sheriff’s deputies on bikes were left on the school’s campus. They were joined by police drones buzzing overhead on the lookout for any violence.

East Valley Superintendent Brian Talbott called the protest an “all-around safety issue” and said the possibility of conflict between Westboro and their counterprotesters was not a safe environment for students.

“We need to get our kids home safely without the disruption of this demonstration,” he said the day before the protest. “I do worry that the group’s messaging will create a strong emotional reaction.”

The Kansas-based church came to national prominence in the 2000s for its verbally combative protests at soldier funerals. A frequent target of their demonstrations are members of the LGBTQ community and their supporters. The group came to Spokane specifically to protest a single East Valley High School transgender student.

That student’s participation in the East Valley girls’ track team generated controversy earlier this summer. Westboro members were outnumbered by approximately 50 counterprotesters expressing support for the student and the LGBTQ community.

Talbott said the school district rallied around its students as the community prepared for Westboro’s “evil message.” The superintendent said the group “isn’t welcome,” and attacks on individual students would not be tolerated.

“An attack on one is an attack on all,” he said in support of the transgender student at the center of protests.

Tanya Jackson came to show support for her own transgender child, who is a graduate of East Valley High.

“I was angry they brought hate into our community. I’m here to support my community. Regardless of what these people are doing, our transgender students need to know they have support in opposition to people telling them they should die,” Jackson said.

In the face of these counterprotesters and honking cars, Westboro members remained silent – far removed from the loud preaching that made them famous 20 years ago. Instead, the eight protesters allowed handfuls of their notorious signs to carry their message.

The group was joined by a trio of local supporters who shared Westboro’s opposition to transgender athletes in sports. Between ages 16 and 18, the three teenagers stood with the Westboro members in protest of the school. One claimed to be an East Valley High student, and two others said they went to high school elsewhere in the area.

The protest ended peacefully after 30 minutes.