Moon matched the couples now, the
parents choose. (Independent Online,
2/12/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., founder of the
small Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas
who drew international condemnation for
outrageous and hate-filled protests that
blamed almost everything, including the
deaths of AIDS victims and US soldiers, on
America's tolerance for gay people, has
died at the age of 84. Phelps and his
congregation, made up almost entirely of
his extended family, tested the boundaries
of free speech, violating accepted societal
standards for decency in their
unapologetic assault on gays and lesbians.
The activities of Phelps's church,
unaffiliated with any larger denomination,
inspired a federal law and laws in more
than forty states limiting protests and
picketing at funerals. He and a daughter
were even barred from entering Britain for
inciting hatred. But in a major free-speech
ruling in 2011, the US Supreme Court held
that the church and its members were
protected by the US Constitution’s First
Amendment and could not be sued for
monetary damages for inflicting pain on
grieving families. Yet despite that legal
victory, some gay-rights advocates believe
all the attention Phelps generated served
to advance their cause.
Phelps’ final weeks were shrouded in
mystery. A long-estranged son, Nate
Phelps, said his father had been voted out
of the congregation in the summer of 2013
“after some sort of falling out,” but the
church refused to discuss the matter.
Westboro’s spokesman would only
obliquely acknowledge that Phelps had
been moved into a care facility because of
health problems. (The Associated Press,
3/20/14) ■
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 37
parents choose. (Independent Online,
2/12/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., founder of the
small Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas
who drew international condemnation for
outrageous and hate-filled protests that
blamed almost everything, including the
deaths of AIDS victims and US soldiers, on
America's tolerance for gay people, has
died at the age of 84. Phelps and his
congregation, made up almost entirely of
his extended family, tested the boundaries
of free speech, violating accepted societal
standards for decency in their
unapologetic assault on gays and lesbians.
The activities of Phelps's church,
unaffiliated with any larger denomination,
inspired a federal law and laws in more
than forty states limiting protests and
picketing at funerals. He and a daughter
were even barred from entering Britain for
inciting hatred. But in a major free-speech
ruling in 2011, the US Supreme Court held
that the church and its members were
protected by the US Constitution’s First
Amendment and could not be sued for
monetary damages for inflicting pain on
grieving families. Yet despite that legal
victory, some gay-rights advocates believe
all the attention Phelps generated served
to advance their cause.
Phelps’ final weeks were shrouded in
mystery. A long-estranged son, Nate
Phelps, said his father had been voted out
of the congregation in the summer of 2013
“after some sort of falling out,” but the
church refused to discuss the matter.
Westboro’s spokesman would only
obliquely acknowledge that Phelps had
been moved into a care facility because of
health problems. (The Associated Press,
3/20/14) ■
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 37
