An event organised by a University of Nottingham society with a controversial US church has been cancelled.
The University's philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) society had invited the Westboro Baptist Church, based in Kansas, U.S, to an event early next month.
But now the society has u-turned on that decision and said "student wellbeing comes first" after students expressed concern with the church being given a platform through the institution.
The church's controversial views were shown in two documentaries by Louis Theroux - airing in 2007 and 2011 - the first of which was called 'The Most Hated Family in America'.
On its website, the Westboro Baptist Church defines itself as an "old school Baptist Church" that adheres to the Bible and "preaches against all forms of sin" on its website.
A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham PPE Society said: "The PPE Society hopes this provides a response to all the individuals who have messaged us in regard to the Westboro Baptist Church event. We have decided to cancel the event.
"We stand by our intentions with regards to the event - despite cancelling it – that we were going to engage with this highly controversial group in order to expose their absurdity.
"The event was a Q&A with extensive procedures put in place to ensure that it didn’t become a platform for hate speech.
"But student well-being comes first, and since the event compromises this, we cannot rationally go ahead with it."
A petition calling for the event to be stopped on change.org had already gathered more than 1,100 signatures.
The church had previously confirmed with Nottinghamshire Live that a member was set to attend the event.
The University has said the society has made the right decision in cancelling the event.
A University of Nottingham spokesperson added: “The University of Nottingham does not in any way condone the actions and statements of the Westboro Baptist Church.
"This was a student society event designed to highlight the absurdity of such views as part of series exploring the nature of intolerance.
"We think the society has made the right decision in cancelling their event in the interests of the wellbeing of our community.”
