By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Dueling, noisy protests intended to oppose and promote rights for LGBTQ residents ended without incident Thursday at the Nebraska State Capitol.
Eight placard-carrying protesters associated with Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka faced off on one side of K Street in Lincoln, with nearly 100 demonstrators carrying rainbow flags on the other side.
A heavy police contingent kept the two sides apart.
The Westboro Baptist group — best known for picketing funerals of U.S. military members killed in recent wars — held signs reading “Parents are to Blame, Mourn & Repent” and “America is Doomed,” while LGBTQ demonstrators loudly chanted “Go Back to Kansas,” “God Is Love” and other slogans. They held posters saying “Trans Rights are Human Rights.”
Protests came during debate
The dueling protests came as state lawmakers debated a controversial bill that would ban gender-affirming procedures by minors, a measure that has prompted a session-long string of bill-delaying filibusters from Omaha Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh and Megan Hunt. The filibuster blockade has drawn national publicity, as well as efforts to break the logjam.
Westboro church members left without comment, but with one member dropping an American flag to the ground and stomping on it before climbing into a van.
Shawn Sintek of Lincoln, who carried a rainbow flag, a symbol of gay pride and support, stood along the sidewalk along with his 5-year-old son.
He said there’s been a lot of “hate” aimed at the LGBTQ community in Nebraska in recent weeks and joined the demonstration Thursday because he believes that God called us to “love thy neighbor.”
“You can’t just stand idly by,” Sintek said.