In 2016, Forbes stated WBC had about 70 members. Members of the group have been banned from entering Canada and the United Kingdom after attempting to protest in those countries. 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. Phelps shielded the group from tort liability for a 2006 protest at a military funeral. The 2010–2011 US Supreme Court case Snyder v. 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. It also draws counter-protests.Īlthough 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. The group is known to deface the American flag or fly it upside down while protesting. Notably, the group protested at the funerals for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the West Nickel Mines School shooting. They often protest at public and private events, including funerals, sports games, and concerts. Within a few years, the group expanded to protesting across the country. WBC has been protesting against gay people since 1989. 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. It also engages in hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and even other Christian denominations. It is widely considered a hate group, and is known for its public protests against homosexual people and for its usage of the phrases "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". The Westboro Baptist Church ( WBC) is an American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps.
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