Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr.

Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas. The church is monitored as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. Phelps is a disbarred lawyer, founder of the Phelps Chartered law firm, a past civil rights activist in Kansas, and a Democrat who has five times been a candidate for political office in Kansas Democratic Party primaries. He and his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, are banned from entering the United Kingdom.

Phelps's followers frequently picket various events, especially military funerals, gay pride gatherings, high-profile political gatherings, performances of The Laramie Project, and even Christian gatherings and concerts with which he had no affiliation, arguing it is their sacred duty to warn others of God's anger. In response to Phelps' protests at military funerals, President George W. Bush signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act into law in May 2006, and, in April 2007, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius signed into law a bill establishing a 150-foot no-picketing buffer zone around funerals. He is known for the slogans that he and his ministry use against people he deems sinful; the church is built around a core of anti-homosexual theology, with many of their activities stemming from the slogan "God hates fags", which is also the name of the group's main website. Gay rights supporters have denounced him as a producer of anti-gay propaganda and violence-inspiring hate speech