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Parents Drown Out Westboro Baptist Church Protest At Alamo Elementary School

ALAMO (CBS SF) -- The class schedule hadn't started yet, and students were not present on campus, when four demonstrators from the anti-LGBT Westboro Baptist Church were met and drowned out by counter-protesters outside an elementary school Tuesday in Contra Costa County.

The protest started around 7:45 a.m. outside Rancho Romero Elementary School at 180 Hemme Ave., but district personnel had caught wind of the plan and switched to a "reverse minimum" school day, according to San Ramon Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich.

It's believed the WBC demontrators were protesting a unicorn poster at the school that encourages discussion of gender identity. Students' parents were on hand counter-protesting as they anticipated students showing to school for the day.

As of about 9:30 a.m., classes still hadn't started yet and the protest was already over, according to Graswich. "Our students weren't there," she said.

"Today our focus was on the safety of our students and staff, so we put a plan in place working with law enforcement to ensure safety and mitigate the impact on the school day," Graswich said.

"We're very grateful to law enforcement for working closely with us and we've had amazing support from our parent community and staff community," she added.

Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, a controversial group known for its anti-gay message and protests outside of the funerals of soldiers, has come to the Bay Area in previous years.

During their current time in the Bay Area, members of the group also scheduled a series of demonstrations at churches in Walnut Creek for Sunday morning.

 

© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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