Homophobic site garners opponents from left, right
John R. Hillis
Staff Writer
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Phelps, grandson of the notoriously homophobic Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) leader Fred Phelps, uses the Internet as a tool to stir hatred of gays, their straight allies and what he calls the "gay agenda." Under the cloak of the First Amendment, the WBC actively travels around the United States picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, relationships between open homosexuals and activists for gay rights. The group is most notorious for picketing the funeral of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard.
The God Hates Fags Web site boasts photos of Fred Phelps and WBC supporters carrying signs reading, "No Fags in Heaven," "AIDS: The Cure for Gay" and "2 Gay Rights: AIDS and Hell," among others. The site also dedicates a page to counting the number of days Matthew Shepard has spent in hell. Shepard's screams can be heard simply by clicking on his burning face.
While God Hates Fags has been creating controversy since its inception nearly a decade ago, Phelps and the WBC are busy fighting new criticism after the conception of a sister site, God Hates America. In response to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the God Hates America site claims the terrorist attacks were God's way of "punishing this wicked, sinful, perverse, adulterous, sodomite nation."
As with godhatesfags.com, the site centers its attack primarily on gays, advertising an original song played to the tune of "God Bless America." The song's lyrics include, "God hates America!/ Home of the fags/he abhors them/deplores them/day and night, all his might, all his days/..."
The WBC emphasizes the need for Americans to repent and fight the "perverse" gays, claiming that, otherwise, future attacks are likely.
Liberal activist groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Human Rights Campaign, have long expressed their disapproval of Phelps, the WBC and the Web sites. While these groups are in agreement that the message being relayed on the Web sites is destructive for society, there is a great deal of debate on how to combat these sites.
Some organizations, such as Voices of the World, have turned the matter into a debate on free speech. The group has drafted an online petition, written by J.L. Foster, Jr., addressed to all "voices of humanity" asking for a ban against the God Hates Fags Web site and against the actions of the WBC.
Other liberals and gay rights activists believe that education and openness from within the gay community are better tools to fight homophobic hate rhetoric.
Phelps and the WBC have also come under attack from a less likely source: the Religious Right.
Many Christian groups, like the socially conservative Christian Defense League, fear that the WBC "puts Christians in a very negative light" and detracts from God's message.
The decision to picket Matthew Shepard's funeral prompted even Jerry Falwell to speak out against Phelps, reminding him, "God loves everyone." In an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Phelps responded that his group was "just preaching the Bible, not this kissy-pooh stuff Falwell is putting out."
Phelps defends the WBC Web sites on the grounds that he is following the word of God. Quick to quote a number of Bible verses to denounce homosexuality, Phelps holds firm to his belief that God says to hate gays, and that to do anything else would be contrary to Christian beliefs.
Asserting that the Bible deems gays and anyone who supports them "worthy of death," Phelps insists, "[we] can't preach the Bible without preaching hatred."