Portland’s propensity for the cute and strange and clever is usually cloyingly annoying. But then, sometimes, it’s absolute pure genius.

Take Saturday night, when a couple of hundred people showed up outside the Moda Center to shame the anti-gay trolls from the Westboro Baptist Church—who’d decided to try picketing the Portland Trail Blazers for their first-in-major-sports declaration in favor of marriage equality.

Portlanders glammed up for the occasion and printed mocking signs. Greg Raisman, a city transportation employee, started a website, Protestathon.com, in which people could pledge money for Basic Rights Oregon. Black bloc adherents came armed with giant black banners meant to cover Westboro’s words. And DJs were waiting with a sound system and stage lights for a promised dance party.

Westboro’s crew showed up later than expected, closer to 5 instead of 4:45, and stood on a feeder road several hundred feet from the arena. And then they left far sooner than expected. About 15 minutes in, after protesters swarmed them with signs and derision (and after one Westboro-type had her hat snatched from her head and thrown into the road by a counter-protester), Westboro booked it for their cars (three in all) and drove off in defeat. (One source told me, afterward, that some topless women made sure to makeout in front of the departing cars, accompanied by a “God loves butt plugs” chant.)

Naturally, we were out there taking pictures. Enjoy!

Kneel.
  • Kneel.
Keith hearts Lance.
Self-explanatory.
  • Self-explanatory.
Thor.
  • Thor.
Greg Raisman, raising maybe not as much money as he hoped.
  • Greg Raisman, raising maybe not as much money as he hoped.
Thor.
  • Thor.
The infiltrator!
  • The infiltrator!
Later, Jesus was seen opening an exit path for one of Westboros cars.
  • Later, Jesus was seen opening an exit path for one of Westboro’s cars.
Remember the man with the sign invoking the mentally ill. Hes an infiltrator.
  • Remember the man with the sign invoking the “mentally ill.” He’s an infiltrator.
#NothingToSeeHere
  • #NothingToSeeHere
Na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye. Etc.
  • Greg Raisman
  • “Na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” Etc.
The cheers as the final Westboro vehicle leaves.
  • The cheers as the final Westboro vehicle leaves.
And then the dance party started as promised.
  • And then the dance party started as promised.

Denis C. Theriault is the Portland Mercury's News Editor. He writes stories about City Hall and the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on issues like homelessness, police oversight, insider politics, and...

13 replies on “Scenes from the Portland Counter-Protest that Drove Off the Westboro Baptist Church”

  2. The true test for hypocrisy, is to see how many Christians will boycott the Portland Trail Blazers’ games. If it’s too late for refunds of season tickets, then there ought to be a class action suit.

  3. The Blazers announced their support of marriage equality in October of 2013…before the start of LAST season. Any Christian complaining about it now is fifteen months behind the curve…sorta like ^^one of our commenters^^.

  4. Material for covering up Westboro’s signs, and assaulting them? Sounds like a victory for thuggery.

    Pure genius would have been using wit and intelligence. E.g., a fundraiser for BRO based on matched donations for every Westboro member who shows up.

  5. I have lived near or in Portland my entire life. If you don’t like gay people, then Portland might not be your kinda town. Just move out and spread your hate elsewhere.

  7. Love this so much, however not a fan of the “mentally ill” sign. I believe they had the right sentiment and good intentions but it comes across as extremely ignorant and insulting to a much broader crowd then they intended to insult. Perpetuating the stigma around mental illness is just a shitty way to try to make a point about gay rights.

  10. This is great and why I love Portland. These people chose the wrong town to spread their message of intolerance. Surrounding and covering their signs is pure genius. Didn’t hear anything about assault other than the hat. The whole thing seemed pretty peaceful and clearly the Baptists got the message and not the other way around.

  12. Oh Darlin’… … Westboro Baptist Church has as much to do with ‘Christianity’ as the little man behind the curtain has to do with the home, heart, brain and courage of Dorothy and her friends.

  13. I am a Christian and I have several friends/family members involved in same gender relationships. Myself and the majority of Christians I know support the rights of people to love whom ever,no matter what gender. We ( myself and my Christian friends )do not support views similar to what the WBC is promoting. Love is love! I find it troublesome that some of the protesters have lumped all Christians into the same group as the WBC. As with almost every group in the human race, the squeaky wheels get the attention. Thus the message of the WBC is what people hear. I hope people realize that the WBC and similar groups do not speak for Christians as a whole. The views of the average Christian is almost always squelched by the “squeaky wheels”. I also truly hope that one day we all can love each other just because we are all unique.

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