Police: Church Calls Off Protest at Nyack High School

Parents, friends and students will no longer have to  if they wish to see perform The Laramie Project.

According to, a spokesperson from the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) said earlier today that they will not be present at the play. The WBC is a Kansas-based organization that pickets soldiers' funerals, assails homosexuality and believes Barack Obama is the anti-Christ.

Clarkstown Police did not elaborate on why the group decided to call off the protest.

Originally, the WBC planned to picket outside the high school Saturday from 7:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. On their Web site, they labeled the play—which spotlights the brutal murder of a young, gay Wyoming man—"[homosexual] propaganda." 

Upon hearing about the protest, students and staff agreed the best course of action was to ignore the WBC—counter-protesting would only fuel the fire, they said. (Read student and staff reactions, and more on the protest, .)

Even though the group will not be in the village this weekend, they have visited Rockland in the past. In 2004, the WBC protested at South Nyack's St. Paul's United Methodist Church. They assailed the church's services—which catered to gays, lesbians and transgenders—and the then-mayor's support of gay marriage.

"They called [Mayor John Shields] the 'mayor of Gomorrah'," recalled Joseph Coe, a community liaison and organizer with Gay Pride Rockland. Coe was present at the protest, and noted hundreds of counter-protesters turned up, as well.

The Laramie Project will be presented at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night. Tickets are available at the door.