SILVERTON, Ore. – An anti-gay church from Kansas plans to protest in Silverton next week after the town elected the nation's first openly transgender mayor.

The Westboro Baptist Church is not affiliated with any national Baptist conventions or associations but is known for protesting anyone or anything they see as supporting or even tolerating homosexuality.

Silverton's mayor-elect, Stu Rasmussen, said the protest is ironic considering he is not gay – he's been together with his live-in girlfriend for nearly 35 years.

Rasmussen has been a fixture in Silverton politics for more than 20 years and has twice served as its mayor – but that was before his transformation. Now he identifies as a male even though he has breast implants and dresses like a woman.

Rasmussen expects the church from Topeka to protest for about an hour next Monday, adding that the residents of Silverton will show them the city's usual hospitality and wait for them to leave.

"It's been controversial everywhere except Silverton, Oregon," Rasmussen said of his notoriety. "If you're here it's 'Yep, there's Stu' because it's been a gradual change and a known quantity."

The Web site of the Westboro Baptist Church says the group will also protest at Portland State University next week as well as at the consulates of Sweden and Germany in the Portland area.

The group has gained infamy protesting at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, believing the deaths are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.