PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. -- A controversial church protested outside Shawnee Mission East High School on Thursday afternoon, but counter protesters outnumbered them by the hundreds.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested outside the school at 7500 Mission Road because an openly-gay former student, Matt Pope, was elected prom king last year.

Church Leader Fred Phelps has been too ill to continue protesting, but his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, attended.

"Those children elected a prom king, queen, thing," Phelps-Roper said. "They showed that they don't have a clue about their duty to obey the standards of God."

Pope, who is attending college in Oklahoma, drove back to his high school Thursday to be at the protest.

"I've been targeted for almost my entire life," Pope said. "I've been out since 14 and being really, really active in school, in the community, I've definitely been targeted a lot, but I'm just taking it with a grain of salt, and they're going to think what they're going to think, do what they want to do, and we're just going to do our thing and keep our spirits high."

At least a dozen police officers stood by during the protest to make sure it remained peaceful.

The church protesters stayed on the north side of the street while the students stayed mainly on the south side of the street.