Hillsdale High students, supporters rally for gay rights

By Neil Gonzales

SAN MATEO — Teens painted purple hearts and peace signs on each other's faces.

Adults unfurled large banners advocating gay rights.

Passing motorists honked their horns in support, to the cheers of people lining both sides of 31st Avenue outside Hillsdale High School.

The gathering Saturday evening was supposed to be a counterprotest to an out-of-state group's planned picketing of the school's weeklong production of the gay-themed play "The Laramie Project."
Instead it turned into a festive rally calling for tolerance and equality when members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas did not show up as scheduled before a performance of the play.

"It's amazing," Hillsdale Theater Director Allison Gamlen said, looking over the streetside crowd numbering at least 200 strong from throughout the Bay Area. "I have goose bumps. I'm extremely proud."

Another 200 Hillsdale students and colleagues rallied inside the school for what was dubbed the "Lovefest." They then quietly walked hand-in-hand outside and through the campus, with supporters on the sidewalks applauding.

"Hillsdale doesn't approve of hate," said senior Casey Anderson, 17, a stage crew member for the play, which is about the Wyoming town and the aftermath of the beating death of gay university student Matthew Shepard in 1998.

Students from other high schools arrived to back their Hillsdale peers. About 20 came from Sequoia High in Redwood City. "I think we really want to show that even in the younger population there's a strong belief in equality," said Sequoia senior Arielle Jones, 17. "We can't let inequality go unopposed."
Billy Bradford, 54, of Castro Valley, wanted to attend the rally "because I'm gay."

"I'm also here to support the school, the community and gay people everywhere," he said.

Police were present but hardly needed as the members of Westboro Baptist failed to show.

Across the country, the church's members have picketed school productions of "The Laramie Project" and staged similar protests to oppose a growing acceptance of homosexuality in America. Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of church founder Fred Phelps, could not be reached for comment.

But in a previous interview, she said the play "is such a good place for us to picket because it only has one function — it teaches rebellion. (The students') moral compass has been shattered."

The church's would-be protest was just another ordeal in a trying school year for Hillsdale.

Last August, pipe bombs exploded on campus. Authorities arrested former student Alex Youshock in connection with the explosions. No one was injured in the attack.

Students say all the adversity has just made the Hillsdale community stronger.

"It has been a hard year," said Anderson, a senior, "but we believe we are strong enough to face anything the world throws at us."