Westboro to Picket McMillen Graduation

The antigay Westboro Baptist Church has announced it will picket the graduation next month of Constance McMillen, the lesbian high school senior from Mississippi who fought to take her girlfriend to the prom this spring.

According toOn Top magazine, the Topeka, Kan.-based church led by Fred Phelps announced, "WBC will picket the graduation of Itawamba Agricultural High School to remind the parents, teachers and students of this nation that God said 'Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind, it is abomination.'"

Westboro declared, "This generation has been raised to believe that they can live for the devil and still go to heaven, that God has no standards and the biggest lie of all -- that God loves everyone."

"The parents of Fulton, MS feign outrage that a filthy dyke wants to parade her 'girlfriend' around at their night of fornication called a prom. They had a duty to teach their children what the Lord requires of them. They shirked this duty," said the church announcement.

The graduation takes place at Itawamba Community College on May 22.

McMillen, 18, sued the Itawamba County School District with help from the American Civil Liberties Union last month after the district decided to cancel the prom rather than allow her to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

U.S. district judge Glen H. Davidson ruled that the district had violated the student's rights, but he refused to force the school to hold the event. Ultimately, area parents organized a separate prom behind McMillen's back while she and a few other students were sent to another event.