KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasChurch Group Protests 'The Laramie Project'
Leland Smith, student actor in the play
(May 6) -- Students and staff at Las Vegas Academy are responding to flyers being distributed by a church group that says everyone associated with the school will "go to hell."
The Kansas-based church is upset because they say the school is performing a play that promotes homosexuality. Eyewitness News spoke to an actor in the play and the school's principal.
"It's basically about hatred and not to hate," said Leland Smith. Leland is a student and actor in the Las Vegas Academy's production of The Laramie Project.
Leland Smith: "I feel bad for them. That's their ignorance, not really knowing about our school."
Leland feels bad for members of the Westboro Baptist Church -- a group that's passing out flyers protesting the performance of the play. The flyer says everyone associated with Las Vegas Academy and the Laramie Project will eventually join Matt Shepard in hell. The play is based on Shepard -- a gay man who was beaten to death five years ago in Laramie, Wyoming.
The flyer from Westboro Baptist Church berates and insults the students and staff of Las Vegas Academy: "God hates Las Vegas Academy, the school board and all responsible for leading the kids to lives of sin, shame, and death in inculcating them that it's okay to be gay!"
The church-goers plan on staging a protest at the school next Wednesday. They say the school is performing a play that promotes homosexuality propoganda. The letter says the school is wrong for performing a play about Matthew Shepard.
Leaving this teen questioning -- Ryan Boylan: "How could they be so ignorant?"
Patrick Boylan: "First thing I thought was God, this is religious terrorism."
Patrick Boylan is Ryan's father, but he is also a member of the Nevada Board of Education: "Sure, they have a right to do what they want on public streets and all that stuff. It just doesn't seem right to scare the children."
Voice of Shirley Phelps-Roper: "Those children don't have any fear of God. What's to be imitated. They think they're infallible and invincible."
Stephen Clark, Las Vegas Academy: "One thing I'm communicating across to them is, 'I don't want to validate what they're doing.'"
Stephen Clark is the school's principal and he's been fielding calls from parents and counseling students. "Some of the values we hold dear -- integrity, compassion, respect," he said.
Clark is asking students and parents to stick to what they're doing and ignore the protestors when they arrive next Wednesday.
Principal Stephen Clark: "Of course I'll have all my administrative staff, my support staff, we'll have teachers out there, school police has been notified, Metro has been notified."
Leland Smith: "I also feel that being part of The Laramie Project, that we have to show others in the school how to deal with this."
The actors say they have been getting good crowds at their performances and they now expect even more people to show up, which they say will only increase the message of tolerance.
So now the school waits until next Wednesday.
Patrick Boylan, father and member of the Nevada Board of Education: "I'm going to be there. Others shouldn't be afraid, I'm going to be outside that school."
The school's principal says this experience can be viewed as educational. He says the children have learned about bigotry in the classroom, now they'll see what it looks like in action.
Westboro Church says it will contact authorities to make them aware of the protest. Eyewitness News tried contacting the school district and school district police for their reaction -- they did not return our phone calls.
