The protest lasted about 20 minutes Friday morning. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

UPTOWN — A Westboro Baptist Church protest in Uptown was short-lived Friday after community members arrived to counterprotest the group known for showing up at military funerals and other public events with hate-filled messages and slurs.

About 10 protesters from the Kansas-based fringe church made the trek to Chicago to demonstrate at Weiss Memorial Hospital, 4646 N. Marine Drive, which hosted a "Transmale Genital Surgery Cadaver Lab" for medical professionals this week.

But the church was met by nearly 70 community members, including 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman, condemning Westboro's message.

"In the 46th Ward, we welcome all those who are transgender, because they are really no different than us, and their stories of a struggle for love and acceptance touch us, because in one way or another we've also shared in similar struggles," Cappleman said Friday.

"As angry as we all are about the hatred that is spewed toward the transgender community, who are our brothers and sisters, when haters go low, we go high," he said. "We're not going to return the hate. We're going to take the high road."

The church was founded in by Fred Phelps in 1955 and preaches "against all forms of sin." The church called the procedure being taught at Weiss, considered a form of gender confirmation surgery, "voodoo insanity" practiced by "witch doctors" acting "in defiance of the Lord" on the group's website.

Betty Phelps, 63, using a derogatory slur for trans people, said the group is on a "tour across this land reminding people everywhere there is a God, and he will judge this abomination of trying to change from man to woman or woman to man."

The protest lasted only about 20 minutes, as the church was met by a swarm of counterprotesters who challenged their position and interpretation of Scripture.

"I came out because I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and these people are the [opposite of it]," said John Trott, of Uptown.

The group's interpretation splices "the Bible into isolated verses, or proof texting. It's a totally underhanded way to do theology on every level," Trott said.

Trott, who engaged protesters in conversation about Scripture, said "it made my day" to see the community come out to counterprotest.

“We are committed to providing an excellent experience to all who come to us for care," Weiss Hospital said in a statement released Friday morning.

"We are extremely proud of the Center for Gender Confirmation Surgery at Weiss for being a high quality provider for gender nonconforming individuals. It was wonderful to see such a strong showing of our community members standing up in opposition to a message of discrimination," the statement said.

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