Westboro Showed Up to Protest Transgender Homecoming Queen. What They Encountered When They Arrived Reportedly Had Them Quickly Leaving.

When members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church showed up to picket the election of a transgender homecoming queen at Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missouri on October 1, they were met by a rally of students and residents who assembled to counter their presence.

It all began after Landon Patterson, a transgender senior at Oak Park High School, recently won homecoming queen — a feat that led Westboro to announce that its members would be picketing near the school on Thursday afternoon.

In response to the planned event, a few hundred students, parents and church members showed up in support of the transgender student and marched one mile to confront Westboro, according to KSHB-TV.

Watch the counter protest below (caution: strong language):

The counter rally featured chants of "Long live the queen" and signs that read, "Love Wins" and "Westboro Baptist Church needs Jesus." In contrast, Westboro picketers carried signs that read, "God H8s Trannies" and "You Hate Your Kids," among other related messages.

It was reportedly only a few minutes after counter protesters arrived before Westboro protesters fled the scene, leading the crowd that had assembled in support of Patterson to cheer, the Huffington Post reported.

Members of the community who showed up to support Patterson said that they were turned off by Westboro's antics and wanted to make a powerful statement of support for the school's first transgender homecoming queen.

"We want to show that Landon is a part of our community and a big part of the school," local parent Brian Scheetz told KFVS-TV. "As a friend of my son's, we're just here to show our support."

Patterson had dreamed about being a homecoming queen since freshman year of high school, but "never knew it was possible."

"Just knowing that I did this, and that I just broke some barriers, I can't even put it into words what I'm feeling right now," Patterson said. "I'm just excited and hope this is going to help others out there."

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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