Photographed by Alexander Chi


by Glenn Averoigne

On the subject of peaceful protest and “Free Speech Zones”, if you have yet to hear of the crazy that is Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, they are terribly disappointed.

The Westboro Baptist Church, more of a clan, really, as all the members are related to Phelps, is the organization responsible for protesting at military funerals with such memorable signs as “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”.

Regardless of what you or I or anyone else may think about gays or the war in Iraq, the interment of the dead is a somewhat sacred and somber occasion. I may not support sending American soldiers to the Middle East, but I have no disrespect for the soldiers who risk their lives overseas and the families they leave behind.

Out of curiosity, when the whole “Free Speech Zone” idea came about, why did no one think to protect places like cemeteries and memorial gardens from disrespectful demonstrators? I like to assume it has something to do with the general respect for the dead we have, as sane and moral human beings.

Apparently Mr. Phelps did not get this memo and has made it his life’s work to make loud, angry, mean noises at the families of soldiers, gays, Jews, and Catholics. The Phelps clan made a stop in Dallas earlier this year to protest at, among other places, the Resource Center Dallas, a local GLBT and HIV/AIDS center, and the Holocaust museum in downtown Dallas.

Yes, they protested at a Holocaust museum.

The upside to their obnoxious protests came in the form of revenue: the Resource Center Dallas made over ten thousand dollars in donations and the Holocaust museum had its largest visitor turnout to date on the day of their “visit”.

There has been national outrage about these people, so much so that a case has gone all the way to the United States Supreme Court to determine whether or not such demonstrations at funerals is permissible by the first amendment right to free speech. The disgust brought on by these demonstrations crosses all boundaries, including state borders.

If you thought Facebook was just for fun, you would be wrong. The message that the Phelps clan would be protesting at a military funeral in New England was passed around a group of online sellers who had met through eBay forums and found each other on Facebook.

This message of outrage went from a gentleman in Pennsylvania, to a single mom in Garland, Texas back to West Virginia, where it caught the attention of a local motorcycle enthusiast group. The motorcycle group attended the funeral to drown out the Phelps’ disrespectful “protest” and kept a good distance between the Westboro hooligans and the bereaved family (a counter-protest method that began in Texas).

So, if you have a heart and a soul, even a sliver of one, and you happen upon such a message somewhere in the vast intertubes, pay it forward and pass it on. You never know how far your message may go.