Fred Phelps (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The former leader of the Westboro Baptist Church has died at the age of 84.
Reverend Fred Phelps, founder of the notoriously antigay Westboro Baptist Church, has died at 84 of unspecified causes in a Topeka, Kansas hospice.
Phelps’ long-estranged son Nathan, who split from the church in 1976 and eventually became an LGBT and child abuse advocate in Canada, first alerted media to the impending death of his father with a message posted to his Facebook page last weekend.
The Topeka-based Church was mostly comprised mostly of Phelps family members, who were infamous for protesting funerals of soldiers with signs containing messages such as “God killed your sons” and “Thank God for 9/11,” claiming the deaths are God’s punishment for America’s immorality and tolerance of abortion.
Yet Westboro’s chief mission seemed to be a war on the LGBT communities. Protests featuring members of the church holding signs that proclaimed “God hates fags” became a constant presence at pride festivals and concerts of pop stars.
To his eternal chagrin, Phelps’ “ministry” did more to rally Americans to support LGBT equality than he’ll ever know. The death of Phelps, who was excommunicated for reasons that remain unclear, is not expected to have an impact on the future of Westboro.
Originally published at Queerty
Photo: AP Photo/Charlie Reidel
On The Good Men Project:
A Gay Dad’s Requiem on the Legacy of Fred Phelps
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