Westboro Baptist Church picketers headed to churches, synagogues, schools in Savannah

[UPDATE, 5/20: I have made three posts about the WBC since this one. Find all the posts here.] Well, as if we didn’t have enough to talk about in Savannah, the fine people of the Westboro Baptist Church — the picketers at soldiers’ funerals and owners of www.godhatesfags.com — are on their way to Savannah.

Here is the schedule on the WBC website:

• Christ Church in Savannah, GA May 22, 2011 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
• First Baptist Church in Savannah , GA May 22, 2011 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM
• Savannah Christian Church in Savannah, GA May 22, 2011 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM
• Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, GA May 22, 2011 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
• St. John’s Episcopal Church in Savannah , GA May 22, 2011 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
• Beach High School in Savannah, GA May 27, 2011 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
• Jenkins High School in Savannah , GA May 27, 2011 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
• Windsor Forest High School in Savannah, GA May 27, 2011 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
• Jewish Community Center in Savannah, GA May 27, 2011 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
• Congregation Mickve Israel in Savannah, GA May 27, 2011 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
• Bnai Brith Jacob Synagogue in Savannah , GA May 27, 2011 6:15 PM – 6:45 PM

You can also go to this page to read these four instructive press releases:

• WBC WILL PICKET THESE FAG-INFESTED, PERVERT-RUN SAVANNAH, GA HIGH SCHOOLS ON FRIDAY, MAY 27
• FATEFUL FIG FIND: SAVANNAH, GA EDITION, FRIDAY, MAY 27: Jewish Community Center, Congregation Mickve Israel, Bnai Brith Jacob Synagogue
• WBC TO PICKET FIVE SAVANNAH, GA WHOREHOUSES, MASQUERADING AS CHURCHES ON SUNDAY, MAY 22: First Christ Church, First Baptist Church, Savannah Christian Church, Savannah Christian Church, St. John’s Episcopal Church
• WBC TO PICKET THE PEDOPHILE WHOREHOUSE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST (222 E. HARRIS STREET, SAVANNAH, GA), SUNDAY, MAY 22, FROM 10:30 – 11:00 AM

I’m exhausted just thinking about how much coverage and conversation these picketers will generate. I can pretty much guarantee that I’m not going to write about them in my column (at least not in advance), and that I won’t dignify their presence by showing up at any of these short protests.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how Savannah reacts. For a variety of reasons dealing with both tolerance and security, the picketing will be especially problematic for the targeted public schools.

[UPDATE: I have gotten a lot of questions about the issue of media and community response to this; I have followed up here.]