By Tara Cavanaugh
Fred Phelps is threatening to protest Howell High School's production of The Laramie Project, a play about the lynching of gay college student Matthew Shepherd in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming.
The Michigan Democratic Party's LGBT and Allies Caucus is planning a counter-protest at 7 p.m. on March 22 at the high school, located at 1200 West Grand River Ave. in Howell. The caucus encourages you to bring signs supporting LGBT rights.
Jen Chapin-Smith, the vice chair of the caucus, said that Phelps often threatens to protest events on his website but then doesn't show up, so it's hard to tell if he will really come to Howell. But Chapin-Smith encouraged people to come to the counter-protest just in case.
Phelps made news recently when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor, saying that he and his followers' protests of military funerals are protected free speech. A father of a Marine who died while on active duty sued Phelps for emotional distress after Phelps picketed his son's funeral. Phelps and his family believe God is punishing the U.S. for being gay-friendly.
Phelps is also well-known for his protest of Shepherd's funeral. Shepherd died after three men beat him, tied him to a fence post and left him there. The three men were later convicted of murder.
