Columnist Jeff German: Vegas rallies against hatred

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 6:02 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

May 15 - 16, 2004

The hate-mongers came to town last week and gave Las Vegas an exercise in unity against what is bad in the world.

About a dozen members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a gay-bashing, anti-Semitic group from Kansas, led a mini-demonstration across the street from the Las Vegas Academy bright and early Wednesday morning as students were arriving at school.

But the real story was the large turnout of Las Vegans, nearly 300 strong, who showed up on the sidewalk outside the school at 7th Street and Bridger Avenue to drown out the visiting voices of evil.

It was a show of solidarity rarely seen in Sin City, which is in the middle of a marketing campaign aimed at encouraging Americans to come here and live out their vices. The campaign is hardly the makings of a community.

Members of the Westboro church, founded by the Rev. Fred Phelps, one of country's leading homosexual haters, were in Las Vegas to appear on the nationally syndicated radio show of Howard Stern, the Federal Communications Commission's Public Enemy No. 1.

Like the Westboro clan, which is not affiliated with the mainstream Baptist church, Stern isn't from Las Vegas. He brought his show here from New York, which means we have the notorious shock jock to thank for bringing Las Vegas together.

How's that for irony?

While spreading their message over the radio airwaves, courtesy of Stern, Westboro church members decided to do what they do elsewhere in the country -- stage an anti-gay protest. They demonstrated against the Las Vegas Academy's production of "The Laramie Project," which tells the story of Matt Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was murdered in 1998 because he was gay.

But what stole the show were the local church groups, gay and lesbian organizations, educators and students who showed up in force. They carried signs saying "Hate is not a Las Vegas word" and "Embrace life, love and diversity, not hate."

As they jammed the sidewalk in the "no-hate zone," their presence dwarfed the gay-bashers. The message was loud and clear -- that Las Vegas has no tolerance for the Westboro Baptist Church and all of the ugliness that it represents.

Las Vegas, it turns out, does have feelings.

Too often we get caught up in the glamour and glitz of this city and forget about the many social ills permeating here. And we forget that we should be coming together to address those concerns.

It's all about the money here. Just jam the Strip with visitors, and don't worry about anything else. The casino industry earns billions of dollars each year, but contributes virtually nothing to treating those who have become addicted to gambling.

We implode colorful casinos on the Strip in the name of progress and ditch the older neighborhoods for the gated communities on the outskirts of the city. And when we are in the mood to hold onto our past, we look to build a museum to those who don't deserve to be remembered -- the violent members of the mob.

At times we simply don't act like a community. With some 60,000 new people moving here a year, it's hard enough to know your neighbors much less build a partnership with them.

But this week we saw a true sign of growth -- people came together when outsiders tried to divide us. We were united in saying we abhor those who preach hate among us.

The hate-mongers of the Westboro Baptist Church may never see the error of their ways. Even as this column was being written they planned to stay in town to disrupt the weekend gay pride festivities.

But we had the comfort of knowing that Las Vegas will never extend them the welcome mat.

That's the makings of a community.