Tag Archives: Topeka

Back2Stonewall.com Visits The Westboro Baptist Church and The Equality House In Topeka, KS

Our post-Thanksgiving travels have taken us to a quiet neighborhood  in Topeka, Kansas where across the street from each other stand two landmarks that are as different as love and hate. I am talking about the infamous Phelps’ families Westboro Baptist Church and Topeka’s rainbow painted Equality House.

The two stand no more than 300 yards across from each other and could not be more different.

One sits with a welcome sign and a community garden for those in the neighbor hod to harvest fresh grown vegetables and welcomes people up onto the lawn and the other is a cult compound with a high fence, tresspassing signs and surveillance cameras.

Those who live in the neighborhood seem unfazed and go about their daily business but the stark difference between the two properties is a brutal reminder of the war that is being waged in America at this moment between love and hate.

 

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Kansas Rainbow Painted Equality House Defaced with Anti-Gay Graffiti, Riddled with Bullets

Kansas Rainbow Painted Equality House Defaced with Anti-Gay Graffiti, Riddled with Bullets

The rainbow painted Equality House, in Topeka, Kansas right across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church has been attacked with anti-gay graffiti and bullets.

bullet1_dc244ac8b5e0749979773d0ba10d54fc-nbcnews-ux-600-700“Fuk fags” was spray-painted on the side of the house and seven bullet-holes were found in what is the latest attack on Equality House.

Actions taken and threats made against Equality House have reportedly reached a new zenith this year, the third year that Equality House has existed since being opened in 2013.

Recently, an individual who claimed to be a member of the KKK made anti-LGBT threats and a feces and urine were found in Equality House’s resource center.

NBC OUT: 

Aaron Jackson, president of Planting Peace and founder of the Equality House, was inside at the time the house was vandalized on Sunday with spray-paint. He was awoken at around 1:12 a.m. when he heard loud noises coming from outside. He called the police, and once they had arrived, they found the anti-gay slurs on the house. A few days later, seven bullet holes were found on the same side of the home.

This, unfortunately, is just the latest in a recent string of vandalism against Equality House.

“The Equality House has been a target for acts of hate and intolerance that reflect the same experiences our LGBT family face every day,” Jackson said. “Planting Peace frequently receives hate mail and even death threats, but over the past three months we have seen an increase in physical acts of vandalism and violence. While it may seem shocking to some, it’s a heartbreaking reality.”