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Comedian donates $50,000 to AIDS care in honor of anti-gay Westboro protestors

Comedian donates $50,000 to AIDS care in honor of anti-gay Westboro protestors

Comedian Lisa Lampanelli is donating $50,000 to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) in the name of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church in response to the church’s protest of her show Friday night in Topeka, Kansas.

The Topeka-based church led by pastor Fred Phelps, is home to anti-gay extremists and is notorious for its angry, anti-gay protests, “God hates fags” signs, and picketing at funerals of deceased U.S. military personnel.

When the church announced plans to protest Lampanelli’s show due to her support of gay rights, Lampanelli said she would donate $1,000 per protester to GMHC, the nation’s oldest HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services provider.

Lisa Lampanelli

Speaking with TMZ, she said of her plans:

“It’s gonna be hilarious to write out the checks to the GMHC and have them send thank you notes to the WBC for their ‘generous contributions.’”

“I’d love to see their inbred faces when they open those thank you notes! Hopefully their jaws will drop so fast that their three remaining teeth and cro-magnon foreheads will plummet to the floor.”

While the original attendance reported was 48, she decided to round up.

“Ends up it’s $50,000,” said Lampanelli. “The inbreds said 48 showed up, so I made it an even 50.”

Before the start of her show, Lampanelli went outside to see how the protest was going. Watch:

The Westboro church is not affiliated with the Baptist denomination or any other Baptist church. According to news reports, almost all of its members — fewer than 100 — are related to founder Fred Phelps either by blood or marriage.

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