The Orlando Theater Community Has a Beautiful Way to Block Protesters from Funerals

angel-wingsThere are few people or organizations on Earth quite as repugnant as the Westboro Baptist Church. Among their many hateful actions is a tendency to protest outside funerals and harass the bereaved by insisting that the deaths of their loved ones occurred because “God Hates” homosexuality.

Despite the fact that they keep doing that, it’s somehow still shocking whenever they announce a plan to do it again, because every time it happens I think, “No human being would be that cruel and devoid of empathy! No one would be so heartless as to start shrieking one’s homophobia in the face of a grieving mother.” But those people do exist, and this week they announced plans to protest outside the funerals of the victims of the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando.

It’s disgusting. The victim’s families lost children to an evil man with access to assault weapons, and now these poor parents can’t even grieve without being chased by a homophobic picket line. Orlando mother Mina Justice got a text from her son that said, “I love you Mommy” just moments before he was murdered. And now she can’t even say goodbye without these heinous trolls calling her son a monster at his own funeral.

But according to Broadway World, the Orlando theater community is coming to help with the Angel Wings Project, volunteers wearing white angel costumes with enormous linen wings will be stationed around the funerals. The wings are huge, and if you string enough wing-wearing actors in a line, nobody can see the signs behind them.

The Orlando Shakespeare Theater is building the wings in its costume shop. Their stitchers, cutters, and drapers should be really proud of themselves for the work they’re doing. WBC protests tend to be loud and ugly, but very small. There are a few awful people in the world, but a lot of very good ones. With enough angels out there, no one will be able to see the jerks at all.

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