The Westboro Baptist Church, the fundamentalist movement that proclaims ‘God hates fags’, is to protest at the funeral of Elizabeth Taylor, writes James Park in Pink News.
The group, which is more accustomed to picketing the funerals of US service personnel killed abroad, blames the ills of the United States on the country’s decision to decriminalise homosexuality. Now the church says it will picket Elizabeth Taylor’s funeral because of her association with the struggle for LGBT rights.
One tweet from Margie Phelps, daughter of the church’s leader Fred Phelps, said: “She [Taylor] was a proud whore! Now she’s in Hell Version Final.0! #WBC will picket funeral!” Another said: “Her whoredoms enabled filthy fags! She now answers for her gr8 sin in hell! #WBC will picket funeral!” While a third said: “No peace for whore who taught proud sin! Too late for her to repent! #Westboro will picket funeral.” [not a fan then? – Ed].
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court, with a majority of eight to one, ruled that the church should be allowed to picket funerals by relying on their First Amendment rights to free speech.
The son of Fred Phelps has claimed that his father beat his family until they bled. Nate Phelps, who has been estranged from his family for more than thirty years, is writing a book about his experiences growing up in the Kansas church [send your suggestions of a title for the book to Norman Tebbit Publishing, Sewer Street, London W1 - Ed].
