Anti-gay protesters get cold reception in Woodbury

Fifteen counterprotesters greeted five members of an anti-gay group who demonstrated outside Woodbury High School today to support a student who was barred from wearing a "Straight Pride" sweat shirt to school.

The student, Elliot Chambers, 16, is suing the school district, saying he has a free-speech right to wear the sweat shirt.

But Chambers disavowed the group -- led by the Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. -- and stayed home with his parents’ permission today to distance himself from Phelps’ message. Phelps’ group routinely refers to homosexuals with slurs such as "fags" and "queers."

"I don’t really agree with the way he’s going about this," Chambers said. "He doesn’t accurately represent God and he doesn’t represent the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in what he’s doing. His message is extremely negative and I think that he’s doing Woodbury High School and me both a disservice by coming to Woodbury."

Phelps and his supporters carried signs bearing anti-gay messages, including one that said God laughs when homosexuals die.

The group also protested Sunday outside a St. Paul church that ordained a lesbian as a pastor a week earlier.

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