Back in September, the Washington Post ran a series on growing up gay in America with a profile of 17-year-old Michael Shackelford of Sand Springs, Oklahoma. That got the attention of Fred Phelps, the infamous anti-gay pastor of Topeka, Kansas. After the articles were published, Phelps announced that he and his clan were going to go to Oklahoma to demonstrate against Michael, his family, and his church.

But the town would have nothing of it. While Oklahoma may be the reddest of the red states, they passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and they elected a certifiable nut job as Senator, they stand behind their own.

Every now and then there is a little glimmer of hope…