Westboro Baptist Church To Protest Rally For Derrick Gordon
Photo by Steve Garfield. License information here.
According to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, members of the UMass community are planning to gather in support of Derrick Gordon on Wednesday April 17 from 11:45 am to 1:30 pm at the corner of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenue in Amherst, MA. Gordon became the first active openly gay player in NCAA Division I men’s basketball on April 9. The anti-gay organization, the Westboro Baptist Church, is set to send protestors to the congratulatory event to express their disapproval of LGBT people as announced via its Twitter feed.
The UMass chapter of Athlete Ally is a part of a large contingent of students, coaches, athletic administrators and university faculty that have congratulated Gordon since his historic announcement. A Facebook page has even been created, UMass United: #StandwithDerrick, aimed at galvanizing support for inclusion and acceptance. Already the page indicates that over 1,000 people will attend the rally.
Organizing groups include the UMass Black Student Union, the South Congregational Church in South Amherst and the Haydenville Congregational Church. The full article can be seen here.