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While members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed their anti-gay and anti-Semitic message, Gunn students, Stanford students, faculty, and other members of the community united in two demonstrations to counter the WBC.

The demonstrations occurred in front of Gunn High School and the Stanford Hillel at 7:25 and 8 a.m., respectively.

Gunn students were surprised at the hundreds of people who attended the anti-protest because the Gunn administration discouraged students from attending.

“I thought it was only going to be about 50 [kids from the] Gay-Straight Alliance,” Rachelle Gere, a Gunn student who attended the anti-protest, said.

Stanford professor Charlotte Fonrobert, who attended the demonstration at the Hillel, was deeply moved by the experience.

“People were excited to be there,” said Fonrobert. “Everyone came together. One kid started to play ‘Amazing Grace’ on his bagpipes and everyone started singing along.”

According to Ronit Roodman, another Gunn student, the protests brought people together to fight for a common cause.

Gere was surprised at the diversity of the crowds at the Gunn anti-protest.

“The WBC coming to California demonstrated that not only the city of Palo Alto but also Bay Area residents are loving and accepting,” Gere said. “We had people from multiple high schools, back grounds, nationalities and sexual affiliation all stand side-by-side to show that we will not accept people who attempt to demoralize people who choose to be anything other than heterosexual.”

Fonrobert was also pleased by the variety of people who attended the anti-protest.

“Many people said they haven’t seen anything like this in 20 years in this area,” Fonrobert said. “There were kids there from all across the spectrum, the Stanford Band and Talisman were there, there was singing and dancing. The WBC was outnumbered and their hateful messages were drowned out by a message of respect and love.”

Gere said that the cherry on top of this whole experience was seeing students walk around campus wearing rainbow-striped “Gay? Fine by me” shirts and the Gunn GSA’s “Love is love” shirts.

Gere called Gunn campus the most accepting and tolerant place she has ever set foot on.

“I was very surprised at how the WBC thought that they could try and change our minds so that we will reject people who are not white, straight and American,” Gere said.