Westboro Baptist Church

Westboro Baptist Church
The headquarters of the Westboro Baptist Church with the sign "godhatesamerica.com". The graffiti on the sign reads "God Hates The Phelps".
Classification	Primitive Baptist
Theology	Hyper-Calvinist
Headquarters	Topeka, Kansas
Founder	Fred Phelps
Members	~70 (2016)
Official website	godhatesfags.com
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The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group,^{[nb 1]} and is known for its public protests against gay people and for its usage of the phrases "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". It also engages in hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and other Christian denominations.^{[nb 2]} The WBC's theology and practices are widely condemned by other Christian churches, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Southern Baptist Convention, and by politicians and public figures, including former U.S. President Barack Obama.^[2]

WBC has been protesting against homosexuality since 1989. Within a few years, the group expanded to protesting across the country. They often protest at public and private events, including funerals, sports games, and concerts. The group protested at the funerals for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the West Nickel Mines School shooting. The group is known to deface the American flag or fly it upside down while protesting. It also draws counter-protests.

Although the group's right to protest and use hate speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the group has faced numerous legal challenges over its history. A 2006 Act of Congress called the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, created primarily due to WBC, placed restrictions on protests at some cemeteries. The 2010–2011 US Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps shielded the group from tort liability for a 2006 protest at a military funeral. WBC also files its own lawsuits via a Phelps family law firm (eleven of Phelps' children are lawyers), and has won cases that have yielded thousands of dollars for the group. Members of the group have been banned from entering Canada and the United Kingdom after attempting to protest in those countries.

In 2016, Forbes stated WBC had about 70 members.^[3] The group primarily consists of members of Phelps's extended family, although many of its members have left or been excommunicated. Several family members, including Nathan Phelps and Megan Phelps-Roper, have left the church and become activists against it. Fred Phelps himself was excommunicated from the church around August 2013. Before his death in 2014, a church spokesperson stated that the group did not have a defined leader "[f]or a very long time". Several former members have accused the group of brainwashing and abusive behavior.

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