Organization Contact:Landon Brownfield

Secretary of the Board

press@pridestl.org

(314) 317-0077

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement of Support for Jake Bain

Pride St. Louis Reaffirms Their Support as Westboro Plans Protest

March 7th, 2018 (St. Louis, MO) –It was recently announced that Westboro Baptist Church, the infamous hate group based out of Topeka, Kansas, will be protesting Jake Bain at John Burroughs School on Monday, March 12th. Westboro Baptist Church is, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America.”

A news release from Westboro indicates that they will arrive with, “3 dozen picket signs outside of John Burroughs School (755 S. Price Road, Ladue, Missouri) on Monday, March 12th, from 7:45 to 8:15 AM. Pride St. Louis declines to provide specific language from the news release due to multiple slurs and homophobic attacks.

Jake Bain, an openly gay football player at John Burroughs School, was recently honored as the “hometown hero” at LGBT Pride Night with the St. Louis Blues hockey team and has also been the subject of many recent news articles.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Bain is “...signed to play college football —he's headed toIndiana State.”

Pride St. Louis reiterates their support for Bain, and unequivocally denounces the homophobic, discriminatory, hate-filled rhetoric from Westboro. “Our organization stands fully behind Jake,” said Marty Zuniga, Vice President of Pride St.Louis. “The dangerous and divisive rhetoric from Westboro Baptist Church cannot go unchallenged.We must show them that this is a community of inclusion and diversity, where the lives of LGBTQIA+ people are valued and protected.”The organization challenges community members to join them in denouncing the baseless hate that Westboro is spreading in St. Louis. A social media campaign using the hashtag “#StandWithJake” has been started by Pride St. Louis, and members of the organization will be present at John Burroughs on March 12th.

For more information, visit http://prides.tl/jake.

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Pride St. Louis is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the St. Louis region’s LGBTQIA+ community over the lastfour decades.