Nearly 100 students gathered on the corner of 11th Avenue and High Street Monday morning to vocally — but peacefully — oppose a short rally staged by members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who are known for their anti-gay and anti-America sentiments.

Armed with free cookies, rainbow umbrellas and signs proclaiming “Love not Hate” and “God Loves All People,” the counter-protesters easily outnumbered the six adults and two children who represented the Kansas-based church.

Westboro, an independent baptist church known for protesting at funerals of dead U.S. soldiers and gay people, was originally slated to appear in front of the Ohio Union. Police denied The Lantern’s attempts to speak to the protesters to see why they chose to rally at OSU, but according to a statement on their website announcing the stop at the Union, the church said OSU students “spend more time pursuing their drunken sins than their academic studies” and that OSU professors “happily teach … the ubiquitous lie that ‘It’s OK to be gay.'”

Most of the counter-protesters, separated from the Westboro group by a line of Columbus and OSU police officers, came to mock Westboro’s slogans, displaying signs including “God Hates Trekkies” and “I’m feeling fat and sassy.”

OSU employee Jason Johns said he agreed with Westboro’s statement about OSU students drinking too much.

“I’d make it my Facebook status if it weren’t so long,” he said jokingly.

But Johns said he disagrees with what Westboro stands for.

“They’re just a small group of people who are trying to get their own in the spotlight — by any means necessary — so they will come out and say stupid s—,” Johns said.

Fourth-year environmental science student Matt Ripley held a sign that said “Free Hugs.” He tried to get close to the Westboro protesters to offer them an embrace, but police told him to leave.

“I’m just out here offering free hugs, because I think what the world needs is free hugs,” Ripley said.

Columbus and OSU police said the protest was relatively peaceful and they encountered few problems. Originally supposed to last from 10-10:30 a.m., the protest started late and was over around 10:25 a.m. The members of the church held up nearly 20 different, colorfully decorated signs that said things such as “You Will Eat Your Babies,” “Antichrist = Obama” and “Pray For More Dead Soldiers.”

Two young children were also carrying signs expressing anti-gay sentiments, and one was wearing a red sweatshirt that advertised another Westboro website. The group danced and sang along to their own original music, including “Fear God Inc.” and “Fat-Bottom Whores,” parodies of the Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.” and Queen’s “Fat-Bottom Girls.”

Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, was gay and died in 1991 of complications from AIDS.