The assholes at Westboro Baptist Church are planning to picket a showing of The Laramie Project -- a play about the fatal gay-bashing of Matthew Shepard -- tomorrow night in Vancouver, Washington. While Westboro typically dispatches only a few people from its home in Topeka, Kansas to picket a veteran's funeral and insight hatred against gays, a much larger group of 75 locals are planning a counter protest.

"We feel like our theater program is under assault," says Mark Bergeson, a communications teacher at Lower Columbia College who is organizing the counter picket with eight student groups. He expects county and city officials to participate. Westboro Baptist (which is not actually affiliated with the Baptist church), he says, "is a hate mongering group masquerading at church."

While the community is coming to defend the drama club and protest hate groups -- Longview residents protested an Aryan Nations meeting there last year -- residents aren't necessarily out to defend gay rights.

"On the issue of homophobia itself you would find mixed opinions here," says Bergeson. He calls gay rights a civil-rights issue. "It's better to put it in the spotlight."

Bergeson wants the counter-demonstration to remain civil and non-confrontational. "The last thing we need is an ex-veteran's deceased buddy to come down here and pop one of them," he says. "They are kings and queens of frivolous lawsuits."

Disgruntled vet-friends not included, protesters will gather at 6 p.m. in the parking lot near Maple Street and 15th Avenue in, Longview, Washington. The picket and counter picket -- assuming the Westboro minions show up, will run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.