Fred Phelps Barred from Entering the UK: Anti-Gay Extremists Prevented from Protesting Play

Fred Phelps and his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, were kept from entering the United Kingdom where they planned to protest a performance of "The Laramie Project." Phelps leads the Westboro Baptist Church, an extremist religious group known for picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq because they believe their deaths were the result of the United States' tolerance of homosexuality.

Phelps runs the Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas. The church is largely considered a cult and a hate group. It is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League and is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group often travels around the United States to protest. By the church's estimation, they have been to all 50 states and spend over $200,000 annually to travel. Many of these protests follow performances of "The Laramie Project."

"The Laramie Project" is being performed at Queen Mary’s College in Basingstoke, Hampshire. The play is about the 1998 death of Matthew Shepard, a gay student, who was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming because of his homosexuality.

The United Kingdom explained their decision to bar Phelps and his daughter from the country was based on the church's activities as a hate group. “Both these individuals have engaged in unacceptable behavior by inciting hatred against a number of communities,” said a UK Borders Official. “The government has made it clear it opposes extremism in all its forms.” Other members of his church could also be flagged if they attempt to enter the country.

This is not the first time Phelps and his clan have been refused entry into another country. In 2008, Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church planned to protest a production of "The Laramie Project" in Vancouver. The Canadian Border Services stopped Phelps and his followers and refused to allow him into the country.

The church has around seventy members, most of who are related to Phelps by blood or marriage. Known for their slogan, "God Hates Fags," the Westboro Baptist Church has also been identified as anti-Semitic, anti-Irish and anti-Swedish. In addition to their signs with slogans such as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "America is Doomed," the group is also known to stand on American flags in protest of, what Phelps calls, "A sodomite nation of flag-worshiping idolaters." Westboro Baptist Church has also been the subject of many abuse allegations. Two of Phelps' sons have accused him of child abuse saying he repeatedly beat them with a leather strap. They have also said the church was constructed as a cult with Phelps as the center of worship.

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Feb 26, 2009 12:31 PM

Guest :

This shows that people all around the world are becoming more tolerant and excepting of the Gay/Lesbian Community. Groups, such as Phelps', find themselves to be the minority among the masses, and the need to have some kind of attention on them forces them to show their true and inner colors: Fear and Self Insecurity. As a heterosexual male, I saw "The Laramie Project" in my 8th grade class, and was completely shocked by the events that took place. Not as a "homophobe" but as a genuine human being that sees that no person should be disrespected and poorly treated as Matthew was, whether gay, straight, purple, white or whatever other distinction one may want to make. I am glad to hear that the show has crossed the Ocean's and a statement is being made over there too, and I applaude the government's of the those countries that took the initative to let a show speak for those who too many times, have little or no voice at all.
And just to add.... what is wrong with Sweden? Swedish Fish are delicious and the only thing I can think of that is remotely wrong is that Vikings may or may not have originated there c. 800 - 1000 A.D. Am I wrong?