The Westboro Baptist wackos are threatening to protest Wednesday’s memorial service for Senator Ted Stevens held at Anchorage Baptist Temple. Most likely, they won’t come – they announced several Alaska protests over the years but only showed up once, protesting Anchorage PrideFest in 2003.

Many state and national dignitaries are attending the ABT memorial for Stevens, the iconic senator of Alaska who died in a plane crash last week with four others. Stevens was respected by Alaskans of all stripes, and a protest against him will not win points with anyone, not even with locals who support WBC’s anti-gay message.

But the irony of America’s most anti-gay, media-craving, batsh*t crazies protesting at the home of Anchorage’s most anti-gay, media-craving, batsh*t crazies is not lost on Alaskans.

Last summer, ABTers held Homos are going to Hell protests against the equal rights non-discrimination ordinance, which was passed by the assembly but vetoed by the mayor. Their mass produced signs with large block lettering on primary colored backgrounds, similar to Westboro’s ‘God Hates Fags’ signs, were designed more to get media attention than to get assembly votes.

The LGBT community of Anchorage and our allies held Equality Rallies outside the assembly chambers, focusing on positive messages in favor of the ordinance. The signs were creative, clever and individually made.

But our LGBT friends and allies in the lower 48 have dealt with years of anti-gay protests. They honed the counter-protesting of anti-gay bigots into an art form, bringing signs that turn the protest on it’s head by making fun of the haters.

Next time ABT and the local bigots hold an anti-gay protest, we can take our cue from the signs in this video and respond to their idiocy with humor: