Members of the Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket at Rockville High School and Winston Churchill High School in Potomac next week.
The group, which has been officially categorized as a hate group because of its homophobic, anti-Semitic and other hate speech, is expected to set up near Rockville High School around the time students arrive on the morning of Nov. 10, according to its website.
That afternoon, members are expected to head to Churchill High School as students are dismissed from class to protest the fact that the school has a Gay Straight Alliance Club.
An email from Churchill administrators sent to parents Monday said Montgomery County police are aware of the event “and have plans for assisting in the safe and normal dismissal of our students.”
The email goes on to say “there will be no counter protest and the event is not an excuse for missing school. Please let your students know it will be a normal instructional day at Churchill High School.”
In 2009, more than 500 students from across the county held a counter-demonstration when Westboro members picketed at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda.
The Topeka, Kansas-based church has protested the funerals of military veterans with signs reading “Thank God for 9/11.” According to the group’s website, members will remain in the Washington area next Wednesday to picket Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day.
Members of the church believe military deaths are God’s punishment and should not be honored.
