You’ll be pleased to know that the Westboro Baptist Church isn’t having the best month. The hateful group recently got owned by Kim Petras after attempting to picket her show, and now it turns out no one wants to live in the same city as them. Desperate to rectify this, a city in Kansas is offering to literally pay people to move there.
The Choose Topeka program will pay new residents up to $10,000 to rent a home in the city, or $15,000 if they buy. The amount reportedly matches employer funds paid to entice needed employees to the city.
Topeka has been home to the Westboro Baptist Church since it was founded as a branch of the East Side Baptist Church in 1931, though the group only rose to notoriety in the early 90s when they began picketing against homosexuality. The Church has since become infamous for its ‘God hate f*gs’ slogans, as well as for protesting military funerals, and was the subject of a Louis Theroux documentary which branded the group ‘the most hated family in America’.
The Kansas city has been trying to distance itself from the Church in recent years, with a non-profit called Planting Peace buying a house opposite Westboro and painting it the colours of the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag. The organisation later bought another neighbouring house and painted it white, pink, and blue – the colours of the trans flag.
The hope is that the Choose Topeka program will entice more LGBTQ+ people to the city, eventually drowning out the Westboro Baptist Church’s evil views and obnoxious protests.