A large group of counter protesters showed up at Oak Park High School Thursday afternoon to rally against a group protesting Landon Patterson, the areas first transgender homecoming queen.
Patterson, a senior at the high school, was voted homecoming queen in September.
Thursday's protest clash started with an announcement from the Westboro Baptist Church, who informed the school district they would be protesting against Patterson and her homecoming crown at 1:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
As a response, at least a couple hundred students, parents and local churches showed up to support Patterson, marching nearly a mile from Oak Grove Park to Oak Trfwy and 79th Terrace to confront the Topeka church.
Within minutes, the Topeka church members returned to their van, leaving the area as Patterson supporters cheered.
One of those supporters cheering was Reverend Chase Peeples of the United Church of Christ.
"We wanna come out and say that God loves all kids, especially LGBTQ kids," said Peeples.
Terra shields is a friend of Patterson and a fellow student at Oak Park High School. She was shocked of the support.
"It's crazy. I knew how many people love Landon but it's great to see how many people came out to actually be there for her," she said.
It is believed the first transgender homecoming queen in the country was Lance Campbell, who was crowned at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, CA in the fall of 2013.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com.
