I woke up on Saturday morning noticing the Wesboro Baptist Church, a hate group known for its slogan "Gods Hate Fags" (and everything else), blaming the helicopter crash into a busy pub in Glasgow on Scotland's vote in favor of marriage equality.
"God hates Scotland, where they marry fag beasts," read the first of a series of anti-gay tweets.
The tweets came shortly after news that at least three people had died following a police helicopter crash into a busy pub in Glasgow. Now the death toll is up to nine.
The crash happened at The Clutha on Stockwell Street, Glasgow, at 10:25 p.m. on Friday.
I find the content of the tweets abhorrent and shocking.
The first tweet, aimed at out lesbian leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Ruth Davidson, said, "How's that fag marriage working out @RuthDavidsonMSP?#BloodOnYourHands."
They then "warned" that worse is coming because "Scotland's shoving fag marriage in God's face" in a tweet at Jim Murphy, Labour Member of Parliament, who voted in favor of marriage equality in the UK's House of Commons earlier this year.
Westboro also went on to tweet, "thank bloody-handed for" the LGBT rights advocacy group Stonewall Scotland, as well as Members of the Scottish Parliament, Alex Neil, Mary Fee, and Jim Hume, "for [the] crashed copter in Glasgow," due to their "push" for marriage equality.
Equality campaigners in Scotland told me in private that they preferred not to comment, saying that this would give the church "legitimacy and oxygen."
The Westboro Baptist Church is classified as a "hate group" by the U.S. organization Southern Poverty Law Center and has a long history anti-gay picketing, demonstrations and protests.
Such hatred from people who say they believe in Christian values but are spending energy, time and resources on vitriolic negativity and loathing instead of, say, organizing relief for the people and their families affected by the disaster.
This speaks volumes on the hypocrisy of their so called "pro-family" stance.
Earlier this year the hate group blamed "fag marriage" for the Boston Marathon bombing, which claimed the lives of three people and injured at least 170 others.
The tweet outrageously stated, "How is that fag marriage idea working out for you, America?!?!"
The church, based in Topeka, Kansas, is not affiliated with the Baptist denomination or any other Baptist church.
It has fewer than 100 members, most of whom related to founder Fred Phelps either by blood or marriage.
The hate group first attracted media attention in 1998, when it picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man who was brutally attacked on the night of Oct. 6, 1998, then tied to a fence and left to die.
Westboro Baptist Church members have been banned from entering the United Kingdom since 2009 because of their practices.
Hate speech and incitement of hatred against LGBT people is a criminal offense in Scotland. Reported by Huffington Post 6 hours ago.
"God hates Scotland, where they marry fag beasts," read the first of a series of anti-gay tweets.
The tweets came shortly after news that at least three people had died following a police helicopter crash into a busy pub in Glasgow. Now the death toll is up to nine.
The crash happened at The Clutha on Stockwell Street, Glasgow, at 10:25 p.m. on Friday.
I find the content of the tweets abhorrent and shocking.
The first tweet, aimed at out lesbian leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Ruth Davidson, said, "How's that fag marriage working out @RuthDavidsonMSP?#BloodOnYourHands."
They then "warned" that worse is coming because "Scotland's shoving fag marriage in God's face" in a tweet at Jim Murphy, Labour Member of Parliament, who voted in favor of marriage equality in the UK's House of Commons earlier this year.
Westboro also went on to tweet, "thank bloody-handed for" the LGBT rights advocacy group Stonewall Scotland, as well as Members of the Scottish Parliament, Alex Neil, Mary Fee, and Jim Hume, "for [the] crashed copter in Glasgow," due to their "push" for marriage equality.
Equality campaigners in Scotland told me in private that they preferred not to comment, saying that this would give the church "legitimacy and oxygen."
The Westboro Baptist Church is classified as a "hate group" by the U.S. organization Southern Poverty Law Center and has a long history anti-gay picketing, demonstrations and protests.
Such hatred from people who say they believe in Christian values but are spending energy, time and resources on vitriolic negativity and loathing instead of, say, organizing relief for the people and their families affected by the disaster.
This speaks volumes on the hypocrisy of their so called "pro-family" stance.
Earlier this year the hate group blamed "fag marriage" for the Boston Marathon bombing, which claimed the lives of three people and injured at least 170 others.
The tweet outrageously stated, "How is that fag marriage idea working out for you, America?!?!"
The church, based in Topeka, Kansas, is not affiliated with the Baptist denomination or any other Baptist church.
It has fewer than 100 members, most of whom related to founder Fred Phelps either by blood or marriage.
The hate group first attracted media attention in 1998, when it picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man who was brutally attacked on the night of Oct. 6, 1998, then tied to a fence and left to die.
Westboro Baptist Church members have been banned from entering the United Kingdom since 2009 because of their practices.
Hate speech and incitement of hatred against LGBT people is a criminal offense in Scotland. Reported by Huffington Post 6 hours ago.