Stand against virulent anti-gay protesters in Portland on Monday

Dear Community,

Westboro Baptist Church (www.godhatesfags.com) will be in Oregon on Monday, Nov. 24th to protest. This group originally started through Rev. Fred Phelps and travels the country protesting the rights (and existence) of LGBT people, soldiers who have fought in wars, and many others. They have been known to protest military funerals, as well as funerals of other innocent individuals based on their sexuality, race, religion, etc. This group will be in Portland in various locations, as well as Silverton, OR to protest Stu Rasmussan, the nations first transgender mayor.

We are a group of grassroots activists, queers and allies that have decided to turn the WBC's message of hate into something positive for our community. Rather than engaging this group with hate, we would like to fight them by raising money for an organization that supports our community, Outside In. You can see the services that Outside In provides to low-income adults and homeless youth, with lots of services for queer/trans youth, by visiting (www.outsidein.org). We are asking our local businesses and individuals to donate any amount of money from $.05 and up, for each minute that Westboro Baptist Church protests in our community(with a minimum donation of $10.) The church is scheduled to protest from 7:30am to 12:30pm at various locations. The idea is that for every minute they spend in Oregon trying to tear our community down, they will actually be building us up.

How can you help?

Spread the word. Email you friends, your family, your neighbors, businesses.

Solicit donations. Make 3 calls to people you think might donate. Ask 3 businesses for support.

Donate to fight hate in Oregon!

Let's pull together and show this group that hate will not tear our community apart!

If you are interested in donating, please contact us at cryangage@yahoo.com. We will contact you after Monday the 24th to let you know how long the Westboro Baptist Church protested and how best to send in your contribution directly to Outside In. If you would you like to send in a flat donation amount directly to Outside In now, be sure to put "WBC" in the memo line or mention it with your donation.