Westboro Baptist Church Empty Edmonton Threats, One Year Later No One Convicted Under Federal Expanded Hate Crimes Act, 16 Year Old Max Staebler Stands Up For Fellow Gay Students, 14 Year Old Sabrina Schlichting Battles Bullies

The Fred Phelps-led hate mongering Westboro Baptist Church threatened to materialise in Edmonton, Alberta Saturday to protest a staging of The Laramie Project, but as the Journal reports, typically, no one from the WBC contingent showed. Instead hundreds of gay rights supporters took the opportunity to rally, making mention that “extremism is so last season.”

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that one year after President Obama signed into law an amended hate crime statute expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity no one has been brought to trial or convicted. The Department of Justice reports that there are an estimated 76 cases pending across America, a classification that includes anything from an investigation to an indictment. The expanded law allows federal prosecutions of crimes involving sexual orientation or gender identity in states where no hate crime laws exist. Currently 31 states have hate crimes laws that include sexual orientation and 11 have laws that cover gender identity. So, does the law, created, according to the bill’s primary sponsor, Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, as “another step forward in ensuring that this kind of violence will not be tolerated” hold weight or does it remain largely symbolic?

Meet 16 year old Max Staebler, the Miami Herald introducing the Southeast High School student in Bradenton, Florida, who came out and did not suffer the slurs and threats that some of his classmates did, Max saying “My friends didn’t reject me and my family was very supportive but I knew most people, their cases were different. I wanted to give back to the people who had a much different situation when they came out.” To that end, Max, one of twenty nationwide members on the Youth Advisory Council of the Trevor Project, intends to facilitate workshops for teachers and students aimed to increase awareness in middle and high schools about bullying and harassment and to teach others how to safely intervene with friends or classmates who express suicidal thoughts. He also plans to bring the Trevor Project to the Manatee schools and to start a Gay Straight Alliance, the first of its kind in the school system. Max says of his plans “I want to teach them about the power of the word, how to spot the warning signs and tell them what they can do to help others.”

Meet 14 year old Sabrina Schlichting, KVEO News introducing the Minnesota high school student encouraged her Lincoln High School classmates to wear blue Wednesday to call attention to bullying, Schlichting saying “I just think everyone needs to be treated appropriately,” adding “Bruises and bangs, those may heal but sometimes people’s hearts don’t heal and sometimes when they hear hurtful things they can’t find the strength inside to say, ‘Oh that’s not true.’”