Anti-gay American cleric banned from Britain for inciting hatred

A homophobic American cleric who runs a website called God Hates Fags has been banned from Britain by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith.

Fred Phelps had vowed to come to Britain with his daughter Shirley to picket a school play in Basingstoke, Hampshire, promoting tolerance for gay people. The play, The Laramie Project, depicts the murder of a homosexual teenager, Matthew Shepard, in the Wyoming town in 1998 and will be staged tomorrow evening at Queen Mary's College.

[OutVoice]

Good move! Wish we "USA" were that civilized.

[tiqueboy]

A hand held grenade launcher could end all of this.

[Disgusted American]

awe....I was hopin' he'd/they go to England,and the English would RIOT on their asses! They don't take this crap over there!

[Disgusted American]

I guess England will be on Phelp's new signs..LOL "GOD HATES ENGLAND"?

[KirkW]

Please let him get on the plane and leave so that the US Authorities can find a way to deny him entrance back into the US.

[Imprtnrd]

Oh my! What will Freddie (Kruger)Phelps ever do now? ROTFL!

[Daniel P from Long Island]

This guy is NOT a "cleric". He's a hate-filled NUT and NOBODY I know of recognizes him as a Christian.

[BRIAN]

He embodies all that is US style christianity in 2009; he speaks what most of them think.

[OkieDarren]

BRIAN wrote:

He embodies all that is US style christianity in 2009; he speaks what most of them think.

This is, of course, utter hogwash and just about as offensive and bigoted as Phelps' own statements, albeit less dangerous because of the lack of threats and violence against Christians.
That said, it's baloney. Even those who oppose equality, immoral though it may be to do so, do NOT agree with the vicious hate of Fred Phelps.

There are changes needed within the church, and there is far too much homophobia. But saying all, or most, or even "quite a few" agree with Phelps just ain't anywhere close to accurate.

[Emelye Waldherr]

Darn, why couldn't the Brit's let them in and then throw the lot into prison for a few dozen years for making threats against the crown?

Sigh.

Of course, whackos like the Phelps clan cult and organizations like MassResistance and "Traditional" Values Coalition do illustrate some of the logical endpoints of what the more reasonable sounding christianist propagandists are telling us, so in that way they help the casue of GLBT equality more than they hurt it. So I guess it's all good in the end-:)

[Rick in Kansas]

KirkW wrote:

Please let him get on the plane and leave so that the US Authorities can find a way to deny him entrance back into the US.

You know that's the first thing that had to cross the mind of the British authorities, that sooner or later we're going to get the Phelp's clan into some other country and not allow them to send them back, so it's better to not take the chance. He and his happy christian family are too well known now to be rid of in that way and there's no way we're going to be able to pawn off that sort of toxic waste on some unsuspecting country...

[EnochSpeaks]

That what the gay community wants here in America! Any anti-gay speeches, sermons, or public speaking against gay rights and gay marriage must be classified as hate speech!

EnochSpeaks

[OkieDarren]

EnochSpeaks wrote:

That what the gay community wants here in America! Any anti-gay speeches, sermons, or public speaking against gay rights and gay marriage must be classified as hate speech!
EnochSpeaks

Evidence?

Of course not. You feel the need to lie constantly, because your bigotry cannot stand up to honest discussion.
That you'd defend this most disgusting of bigots shows the utter lack of morality you seem to have.

[ProudTreeHugger]

Daniel P from Long Island wrote:

This guy is NOT a "cleric". He's a hate-filled NUT and NOBODY I know of recognizes him as a Christian.

I was going to say, calling Phelps a "cleric" is being very generous to say the least.

[ACLU-Tom]

Not surprisingly, you continue your lies about gay people, but coming from you that's expected.

EnochLies wrote:

That what the gay community wants here in America! Any anti-gay speeches, sermons, or public speaking against gay rights and gay marriage must be classified as hate speech!
EnochSpeaks

[Daniel P from Long Island]

BRIAN wrote:

He embodies all that is US style christianity in 2009; he speaks what most of them think.

I'm a Christian.

What you said is not true.

[Daniel P from Long Island]

Emelye Waldherr wrote:

Darn, why couldn't the Brit's let them in and then throw the lot into prison for a few dozen years for making threats against the crown?
Sigh.
Of course, whackos like the Phelps clan cult and organizations like MassResistance and "Traditional" Values Coalition do illustrate some of the logical endpoints of what the more reasonable sounding christianist propagandists are telling us, so in that way they help the casue of GLBT equality more than they hurt it. So I guess it's all good in the end-:)

That's a GREAT idea ! They should've let them in and then arrest them.

RATS !

:(

[dante2810]

Guess we are still stuck with him here in USA.

I think these guys know they will be denied entrance to these countries and put out those "notices" of their plans simple to get the media attention like we are giving them right here.

We really just need to ignore them, or at least the media does. Otherwise they get 100% free advertising to spread their hate.

[nhjeff]

EnochSpeaks wrote:

That what the gay community wants here in America! Any anti-gay speeches, sermons, or public speaking against gay rights and gay marriage must be classified as hate speech!
EnochSpeaks

Just like racist speech is called hate speech. In America, we have the right to say what we want. It doesn't make it desirable.

[nhjeff]

OkieDarren wrote:

<quoted text>
This is, of course, utter hogwash and just about as offensive and bigoted as Phelps' own statements, albeit less dangerous because of the lack of threats and violence against Christians.
That said, it's baloney. Even those who oppose equality, immoral though it may be to do so, do NOT agree with the vicious hate of Fred Phelps.
There are changes needed within the church, and there is far too much homophobia. But saying all, or most, or even "quite a few" agree with Phelps just ain't anywhere close to accurate.

Christians are a large grouping and are not monolithic. That said, the anti-gay Christians differ from the Phelpses only in the sugar-coating that they wrap their message in. How, exactly, is "abomination" different from "God hates fags?" How is "intrinsically evil" different from "damned?" How is "the most serious threat to family and our society" different from "Thank God for AIDS?"

If you distill the messages, the Phelpses are saying exactly the same thing as other anti-gay groups. It's only the form of the language that differs. And neither group directly calls for violence against gays, so there's no difference there, either.

The Phelpses let out the raw emotional disdain for GLBT's that the other denominations suppress behind sugar-coated condemnations.