--- title: Panic! at the Disco Turns Westboro Protest into an HRC Fundraiser description: This article originally appeared on Patheos When the band Panic! At The Disco (below) — you might remember them from their 2006 hit song “I... canonical: https://time.com/3020182/panic-at-the-disco-turns-westboro-protest-into-an-hrc-fundraiser/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-22T19:42:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:43:08.376Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Panic! at the Disco Turns Westboro Baptists Church Protest into an HRC Fundraiser og:description: The two groups squared off in Kansas City og:url: https://time.com/3020182/panic-at-the-disco-turns-westboro-protest-into-an-hrc-fundraiser/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta98d712692b1f0f4/69869ca4cd68489e82095c18/488685245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5238 og:image:height: 2946 og:image:alt: Panic At The Disco Perform At O2 Academy In Glasgow og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Panic! at the Disco Turns Westboro Baptists Church Protest into an HRC Fundraiser twitter:description: The two groups squared off in Kansas City twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta98d712692b1f0f4/69869ca4cd68489e82095c18/488685245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Panic! at the Disco Turns Westboro Protest into an HRC Fundraiser > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=11a27517-e40d-4099-ad11-949e14be4cb7&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Patheos](https://time.com/author/patheos/) ## Patheos Contributor Jul 22, 2014 7:42 PM UTC  Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco performs on stage at O2 Academy on May 7, 2014 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco performs on stage at O2 Academy on May 7, 2014 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Ross Gilmore—Redferns/Getty Images by [Patheos](https://time.com/author/patheos/) ## Patheos Contributor Jul 22, 2014 7:42 PM UTC  _This_ [_article_](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/07/21/panic-at-the-disco-turns-westboro-baptist-church-protest-into-an-hrc-fundraiser/) _originally appeared on_ [_Patheos_](http://www.patheos.com/) When the band Panic! At The Disco (below) — you might remember them from their 2006 hit song [“I Write Sins Not Tragedies”](http://youtu.be/vc6vs-l5dkc) — visited Kansas City, Missouri for a show on Sunday night, they had special guests waiting for them: Westboro Baptist Church members, complete with their “God Hates Fags” signs. (The band’s lead singer **Brendon Urie** said last year that he had [experimented with homosexuality](http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=63018), though he’s married to a woman.) The WBC even [recorded a homophobic cover](https://soundcloud.com/wbcsays/you-love-sin-what-a-tragedy) of the band’s hit song, called “You Love Sin What A Tragedy” in anticipation of the concert. Rather than ignore them, the band responded in a wonderful way. They turned the protest into a mini-fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign: That’s how you make lemonade out of lemons. WBC, always declaring victory regardless of the situation, said [they would just protest 20 times](https://twitter.com/WBCSays/status/491032674656481281) for every dollar raised. So that’s 20,000 more protests than usual. Good luck with that. I suspect it’ll be tough to pull off when so many people in the church are either dying or escaping… _Hemant Mehta is the chair of_ [_Foundation Beyond Belief_](http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/) _and a high school math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He began writing the Friendly Atheist blog in 2006\. His latest book is called_ [_The Young Atheist’s Survival Guide_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AB0XK2Y/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AB0XK2Y&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwfriendlyat-20)_._ _More from Patheos:_ * [5 Things You Can Do Right Now as ISIS Threatens Iraqi Christians and Shiite Muslims](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2014/07/21/5-things-you-can-do-right-now-as-isis-threatens-iraqi-christians-and-shiites/) * [Welcome to Costco — I Love You](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/paperbacktheology/2014/07/welcome-to-costco-i-love-you.html) * [Can Atheism Support Ethical Absolutes? Is Ethics without Absolutes Enough?](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2014/07/can-atheism-support-ethical-absolutes-is-ethics-without-absolutes-enough/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3020182/panic-at-the-disco-turns-westboro-protest-into-an-hrc-fundraiser/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3020182/panic-at-the-disco-turns-westboro-protest-into-an-hrc-fundraiser/"},"headline":"Panic! at the Disco Turns Westboro Protest into an HRC Fundraiser","datePublished":"2014-07-22T19:42:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:08.376Z","description":"This article originally appeared on Patheos When the band Panic! 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