Madeline Novey

madelinenovey@coloradoan.com

A Kansas church known for its anti-gay protests at public events plans to picket a CSU graduation ceremony and the "God-hated, without-hope young people" who it says will attend.

Westboro Baptist Church indicated in a news release that its members will stage a protest on the Fort Collins campus from 4:15-5 p.m. May 17 at the intersection of Meridian Avenue and Plum Street. Commencement ceremonies for the colleges of natural sciences and liberal arts will take place at nearby Moby Arena at 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

The church believes students graduating from universities in "doomed America this year are a unique generation –– unique in their filthy manner of life; unique in the lies that pervade their every thought; unique in their aggressive enabling and embracing of f--- and same-sex marriage," the news release said.

The announcement ended with: "God H8S RAM FAN BRATS!"

While CSU "absolutely disagrees" with the message of the protestors, the university also values free speech and the group's legal right to demonstrate on public areas of campus, spokesman Mike Hooker said.

"Our attention -- however – will be focused on celebrating the accomplishment of the CSU students who have worked hard to earn their degrees," he said.

New releases posted on the church's website indicate the commencement ceremony at CSU is the only university graduation members presently plan to picket. Why the church singled out CSU is yet unclear.

This Wednesday, the church plans to hold a rally against University of Massachusetts' basketball star Derrick Gordon after he announced that he is gay.

The Coloradoan did not reach representatives from Westboro for comment.

Westboro's release, which contains content that some may find offensive, may be read in full at http://noconow.co/westborocsu.