FL Couple Deploys Art in Fighting Hate by Westboro Church

SOUTH FLORIDA GAY NEWS
By J.W. Arnold

FLORIDA -Since the development of language, words have been used to uplift and celebrate, but also to denigrate and hurt. In response to the hateful language of the fervently anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, Kevin Cobb (b. Indiana) and Andres Almeida (b. Ecuador) are using the fundamentalist sect’s own words against them to celebrate love and diversity. The couple created the God Loves Poetry project, an art installation that features press releases from the church with most of the text blacked out, leaving affirming poems and messages. The title is also a play on the very words the Church writes on picket signs – God Hates Fags, God Hates America, etc. “By doing this,” adds Almeida, 24, a self-described advocate for equality, “we make them look even less powerful.” Several God Loves Poetry works are currently on display at O Cinema in Miami, but the project really took off on the Internet. Cobb says, “It’s creative and therapeutic, taking interesting words and creating something that completely changes their message.” [link]