Westboro Baptist Church To Picket ‘LGBT Christian’ Event in Portland

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Tuesday, January 06, 2015

GoLocal News Team

Controversial Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is planning to demonstrate at a Portland event that bills itself as the "World's largest LGBT Christian event."

The Kansas-based church has picketed the funerals of U.S. soldiers. During their demonstrations, protesters have often displayed obscene signs and chanted hateful rhetoric, especially against homosexuals.

The Gay Christian Network Conference (GCNC) will be held in Portland from Jan. 8-11 at the Oregon Convention Center. Every January for more than a decade, the GCNC has gathered LGBT and "LGBT-friendly" people in an annual conference.  

The event has been added to WBC's list of protest sites in the Portland area, according to its website.

The event was recently moved to the the Oregon Convention Center due to what organizers say was an "overwhelming demand" for the conference. According to organizers, the GCNC will be the world’s highest-attended annual LGBT event. The four-day conference of fellowship includes a women’s retreat, speakers, workshops, exhibits and concerts.

WBC plans to picket the conference from 8-9 am on Saturday, January 10 before heading up the street to the Moda Center to protest a Portland Trail Blazer's game. 

The group’s focus has been particularly centered around its homophobia; the church’s official website is godhatesfags.com, a moniker that echoes one of the group’s most well-publicized protest chants.

On Sunday WBC plans to protest in front of places of worship in Boring, Salem, Gresham and Portland. 

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