Hillsdale High students prepare counter-rally to anti-gay protest
SAN MATEO — Hillsdale High School students are preparing for a real-life drama. They are organizing a counterprotest to an anti-gay church’s planned picketing of the school’s production next week of “The Laramie Project,” a play about the town in Wyoming near where 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was kidnapped and severely beaten in 1998 because he was gay. Shepard died a few days later from his injuries. Members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church are expected to picket outside Hillsdale on March 27 before the start of a performance. When Hillsdale senior Meghan Souther first learned about the church’s protest, she said, “I was a little bit shocked.” But now she’s looking forward to it. “I’m more excited now they are coming (because) we want to show people in San Mateo and our high school that we don’t tolerate hate,” said Souther, 17, a stage manager for the play, which runs several days. The counter-rally could draw hundreds of supporters — including students from other Bay Area high schools and universities, said Hillsdale Theater Director Allison Gamlen. Organizers will hold the student rally in the courtyard inside the school and are encouraging participants to wear all white to represent peace or rainbow colors to symbolize diversity, Gamlen said.
