Founded | 2004 |
---|---|
Founders | Aaron Jackson |
Type | nonprofit peace organisation |
Focus | peace, humanitarian aid, environmental initiatives |
Location |
|
Area served | Worldwide |
Website |
Planting Peace is a nonprofit humanitarian organization founded for the purpose of "spreading peace in a hurting world". [1] The organization specializes in diverse global causes, including orphanages in Haiti and India, international deworming efforts, rainforest preservation, and anti-bullying programs. In 2007 Planting Peace founder Aaron Jackson was honored as a CNN Hero for his relief efforts deworming millions of children in Haiti. [2] In March 2013 Planting Peace gained international attention when they created the Equality House, a rainbow-colored home located directly across the street from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT group. [3] [4] In 2016, members of Planting Peace walked across Antarctica with a Pride flag in "a symbolic effort to declare full human rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in or visiting Antarctica." [5]
Planting Peace was founded in 2003 by American Aaron Jackson and Haitian John Louis Dieubon. [6] While on a relief trip to Haiti, Jackson saw the poor living conditions of many of the country's children, and decided to open an orphanage for street children in Haiti. In 2004, they opened a home for seven children in Port-au-Prince. [6] As of 2013, Planting Peace is operating four orphanages in Haiti and two in India. [7]
In 2005 Jackson began an effort to provide de-worming medicine to children in Haiti. [8] As of 2013, Planting Peace has provided de-worming medicine to over 13 million children worldwide, including the Dominican Republic, Republic of the Sudan, North Korea, and Haiti. [7]
In 2009, Planting Peace purchased 624 acres (253 ha) of rain forest land in Peru. [9] The group has also planted over one million moringa tree seeds in Haiti as part of reforestation efforts. [10]
In 2012, Planting Peace purchased a home across the street from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT hate group in Topeka, Kansas. [11] The Westboro Baptist Church is known for extreme ideologies, especially those against gay people. [12] [13] It was headed by Fred Phelps and consists primarily of members of his family; [14] in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members. [15] The church is headquartered in a residential neighborhood on the west side of Topeka about three miles (5 km) west of the Kansas State Capitol. In March 2013 Planting Peace painted the house with the colors of the rainbow flag in tribute to the gay pride flag, and dubbed the Equality House, to "serve as the resource center for all Planting Peace anti-bullying initiatives and will stand as a visual reminder of our commitment, as global citizens, to equality for all". [3] The house soon received international media attention from outlets such as Time magazine, The Washington Post , and Good Morning America , among others. [16] Proceeds raised from the house go toward launching a national anti-bullying program, and The Equality House itself serves as a drop-in center and home for volunteers. [16] In June 2013, a lesbian couple was married in front of the Equality House. [17] The Westboro Baptist Church protested with signs, but the wedding progressed anyway.
In April 2016, Planting Peace put up a billboard in Mississippi to protest a new state law which allowed individuals to deny service to LGBT members for religious reasons. [18] The billboard depicted Jesus saying, "Guys, I said I hate figs and to love thy neighbor."
In June, Planting Peace acquired the house next to the Equality House and painted it the colors of the transgender flag. [19] This was done to further their support of the queer community.
In July, the peace organization sponsored a billboard of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz poised to kiss. It was displayed in Cleveland, Ohio, leading up to the 2016 Republican National Convention. [20]
On August 17, 2016, Planting Peace sent the first pride flag into space using a high-altitude balloon. They did so to declare space LGBTQ friendly. "The primary purpose of this declaration is to support the ongoing fight for the fundamental human rights of our LGBTQ family, moving us closer to a universal understanding that all people deserve to live freely and love freely without fear and discrimination," the Planting Peace website states. [21]
Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. was an American minister and disbarred lawyer who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, and ran for statewide election in Kansas. A divisive and controversial figure, he gained national attention for his homophobic views and protests near the funerals of gay people, AIDS victims, military veterans, and disaster victims who he believed were killed as a result of God punishing the U.S. for having "bankrupt values" and tolerating homosexuality.
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group, and is known for its public protests against homosexual people and for its usage of the phrases "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". It also engages in hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and even other Christian denominations. WBC's theology and practices are widely condemned by other Christian churches, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Southern Baptist Convention, and by politicians and public figures, including former U.S. president Barack Obama.
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a hate group's "primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization."
The Laramie Project is a 2000 play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states, including Wyoming.
Romaine Patterson, is an American LGBT rights activist, radio personality, and author. She first received national attention for her activism at the funeral of murdered gay student Matthew Shepard; the two became friends when Shepard moved to Casper, Wyoming to attend college. For twelve years up until June 2015, she and Derek Hartley co-hosted the Derek and Romaine show on SiriusXM's OutQ.
The Most Hated Family in America is a 2007 BBC documentary film written and presented by Louis Theroux about the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church. The organization was led by Fred Phelps and located in Topeka, Kansas. Westboro Baptist Church members believe that the United States government is immoral due to its tolerance of homosexuality; in addition, they protest at funerals of U.S. military killed in action with signs that display text such as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". With a BBC film crew, Theroux travelled to Kansas to spend time with members of the church and interview its leadership. Theroux interviews church leadership including Fred Phelps and Shirley Phelps-Roper.
Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper is an American lawyer and political activist. She was the lead spokesperson of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, an organization that protests against homosexuality conducted under the slogan "God Hates Fags" until a power struggle within the organization reduced her status.
Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that speech made in a public place on a matter of public concern cannot be the basis of liability for a tort of emotional distress, even if the speech is viewed as offensive or outrageous.
Youth pride, an extension of the Gay pride and LGBT social movements, promotes equality amongst young members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ+) community. The movement exists in many countries and focuses mainly on festivals and parades, enabling many LGBTIQ+ youth to network, communicate, and celebrate their gender and sexual identities. Youth Pride organizers also point to the value in building community and supporting young people as they are more likely to get gay bashed and bullied. Schools that have a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) handle issues of discrimination and violence against LGBTIQ+ youth better than schools that do not because they help develop community and coping skills and give students a safe-space to get health and safety information. Sometimes the groups avoid labelling young people and instead let them identify themselves on their own terms "when they feel safe".
In the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have a long history, including vibrant subcultures and advocacy battles for social and religious acceptance and legal rights.
Phelps-A-Thon.com is a Boston-based, pro-LGBT website working to counteract the message spread by the Westboro Baptist Church, (WBC) and their leader, Fred Phelps. It works by channelling passions against WBC into donations for groups targeted by the WBC's pickets.
Nathan Phelps is an American-born Canadian author, LGBT rights activist, and public speaker on the topics of religion and child abuse. He is the sixth-born of the 13 children of Fred Phelps, from whom he – along with three of his siblings – had been estranged since his 18th birthday in 1976 until his father's death in 2014. Phelps permanently left Westboro Baptist Church in 1980 and has since publicly censured the group.
America's Most Hated Family in Crisis is a 2011 BBC documentary film presented and written by Louis Theroux, who revisits the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church. It is a follow-up to 2007's The Most Hated Family in America, also written and presented by Theroux. In 2019, Theroux made another follow-up, Surviving America's Most Hated Family, completing a trilogy of documentaries based on the church.
The Tolerance, Equality, and Awareness Movement, known by the acronym TEAM, is a federally tax-exempt human rights organization. TEAM is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was founded by in 2009 by Chris Surfus. TEAM was incorporated in 2010 and became a 501(c)(3) federally tax-exempt nonprofit in 2011 through Internal Revenue Service classification as a public charity.
The Equality House is a rainbow-colored house in Topeka, Kansas that is situated on the corner of 12th and Orleans Street, across from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT hate group. The property was purchased by Aaron Jackson, the founder of the nonprofit organization Planting Peace, after he saw a "for sale" sign on a nearby house when looking at the community on Google Earth. He had the house painted in the colors of the rainbow flag to show support for LGBT rights.
Megan Phelps-Roper is an American political activist who is formerly a member of, and spokesperson for, the Westboro Baptist Church, a Calvinist Christian sect categorized by some watchdog organizations as a hate group. Her mother is Shirley Phelps-Roper, and her grandfather is the church's founder, Fred Phelps. She grew up in Topeka, Kansas, in a compound with other members of the church. As a child, she was taught the Westboro Baptist Church doctrine and participated in the church's pickets against homosexuality, the American response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the funerals of soldiers who died in the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq. In 2009, she became active on Twitter to preach the church's doctrine. Phelps-Roper began to doubt her beliefs when Twitter users pointed out contradictions in the Westboro Baptist Church's doctrine, and when elders changed the church's decision-making process.
Aaron Jackson is an American human rights and environmental activist. Jackson was raised in Destin, Florida and attended Valencia College until 2002. After backpacking around the world, he interned at The Homeless Voice, an advocacy group in Davie, Florida, and became director of the COSAC Homeless Shelter. The first orphanages he opened in Haiti were established using money he made as a golf caddy while living in a homeless shelter in order to fund the orphanages. Jackson was named a CNN Hero in 2007 after leading a campaign to deworm children in Haiti.
The Montrose Center is an LGBTQ community center located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The organization provides an array of programs and services for the LGBTQ community, including mental and behavioral health, anti-violence services, support groups, specialized services for youth, seniors, and those living with HIV, community meeting space, and it now operates the nation's largest LGBTQ-affirming, affordable, senior living center in the nation, the Law Harrington Senior Living Center. It is a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. It is in Neartown (Montrose).
Westboro Baptist Church carries out daily picketing in Topeka, Kansas and travels nationally to picket the funerals of gay victims of murder or gay-bashing, as well as those of people who have died from complications related to AIDS. It also pickets other events related or peripherally related to homosexuality. It is the protesting of military funerals that led to the organization receiving much attention for its small size. Protests done by Westboro Baptist Church are characterized by defacement of the American flag, hate speech said by members to onlookers, and members holding signs with predominantly homophobic and anti-American statements.