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It sounds like a dream come true for people looking to relocate.
Homebuyers will receive $15,000 to buy a house and renters will receive $10,000.
The only catch? Residents have to stay there for at least one full year and the location is Topeka, Kansas.
While it may be the capital city, Topeka is not known as a particularly exciting city. Kansas as a whole is not really known as a state that people are clambering toward.
But the worst part of this government incentive, dubbed "Choose Topeka", is that Topeka is the home of the infamous homophobic hate group Westboro Baptist Church.
Westboro Baptist is known for being openly and loudly anti-LGBT+. Their website is even godhatesfags.com.
They have made erroneous claims that things like soldier deaths, mass homicides and natural disasters are all punishments from God for gay people.
The church is famous for their many protests, including those at military funerals and attempts to protest at the funerals of children murdered in mass shootings.
Because of the church's despicable behavior and reputation, people find the entire "Choose Topeka" incentive to be bizarre.
@Foxmental_X Someone is going to have to explain this to me. https://t.co/5CNauxDdrR— Ya, I'm proud to be....🏳️🌈 (@Ya, I'm proud to be....🏳️🌈)1576614522.0
@wibw Smells like desperation— Jeremias (@Jeremias)1576275986.0
@GTPartnership There’s a reason they are offering money for people to move to Topeka. Spend a half day there and yo… https://t.co/PuAJxTyXUt— NathanielGreen (@NathanielGreen)1576609545.0
According to Pink News, the Joint Economic Development Organization for Topeka and Shawnee County stated that Topeka is:
"poised for a true renaissance".
They may be poised, but even with fifteen grand, people are not interested.
I'd rather be poor on Long Island than poor in Kansas. I guess that makes me a 'coastal elite'. Yeah, I don't have… https://t.co/GdnQLiAWej— Totally Fucking Gay (@Totally Fucking Gay)1576606777.0
I spent a month in Topeka one day... $15K would barely be enough to get me to visit again, let alone live there. I… https://t.co/elUsfNZTw2— JT Kostman, PhD (@JT Kostman, PhD)1576597059.0
🏳️🌈 🤔 Ummmmm - - H A R D P A S S A government program called Choose Topeka will pay new residents up to $… https://t.co/9vrkT54CDs— 🙋♂️ DREW. 🇺🇸 🎅 (@🙋♂️ DREW. 🇺🇸 🎅)1576525539.0
@Drew_Yall No thanks. #LoveIsLove https://t.co/C22tbnnQaO— Laurel M. Davila (@Laurel M. Davila)1576526918.0
@Drew_Yall @Jersey_Craig Nah, I'd rather gut myself with a rusty spoon.— Hellcat🦇Lissa Is Salty AF! (@Hellcat🦇Lissa Is Salty AF!)1576528212.0
@Drew_Yall @laureldavilacpa You've really got to think twice about moving to a city that has to pay people to move there.— Steve White (@Steve White)1576529494.0
@Drew_Yall https://t.co/nciEPch6cl— Patricia Wilson (@Patricia Wilson)1576602261.0
One Twitter user had a better idea for the city of Topeka to get more tax dollars into their system.
@Drew_Yall @DeadBunnyFrank How about tax Westboro Baptist and watch what happens.— Rick Fountain_8 (@Rick Fountain_8)1576553228.0
Maybe that is the real solution.
The book Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by former member Megan Phelps-Roper is available here.