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Their hatred, and seeking of publicity, goes beyond homosexuality. They also protested the [[Pope]]'s visit, calling him the [[anti-Christ]].
Their hatred, and seeking of publicity, goes beyond homosexuality. They also protested the [[Pope]]'s visit, calling him the [[anti-Christ]].
==Family Law Firm==
Fred Phelps designed his church/family as a giant law firm used to sue those angry enough to retaliate against the "church". Eleven of Phelps' thirteen children are lawyers.<ref name=aol />
{{cquote|"They scrupulously obeyed the ordinance" that kept them and their "God hates fags" and "America is doomed" signs away from the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, said Mark Potok, who directs Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. "They're good at this," Potok said, noting that the family has successfully sued many communities for monetary damages after they tried to restrict the family's constitutionally protected protests. "They understand the First Amendment very, very well. They are not stupid people. They are vile people."<ref name=aol />}}
All five of the attorneys for the Phelps Chartered Law Firm, which Fred Phelps founded in 1964, are his children. The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred Fred Phelps himself in 1979 for a lack of ethics. Because the firm represents Westboro Baptist Church in its lawsuits, it can use money from cases it wins to further fund the church.<ref name=spc />
{{cquote|"'They have a very well-respected law firm in Topeka,' Sherman says. 'People in town said, 'Well, we don't like them, but if we want to win a case, we'll go to them.'' Church spokeswoman Phelps-Roper says their booming employment and family law practice pays the bills for their travels across the country, when they shout their anti-gay message. They travel in vans to keep down the costs, which she says can add up to $200,000 a year... The protests are in themselves a source of some income, according to Potok. Over the years the Phelpses have filed lawsuits against communities that try to stop them from demonstrating. 'And as a general matter they have won,' he says. 'They know their First Amendment rights very well, and they've been very good at defending them.' When they win, they often receive tens of thousands of dollars in court fees. And their winning streak is likely to continue, now that the Supreme Court has decided that Westboro's right to free speech trumps the right of families to bury their loved ones undisturbed."
-Barbara Bradley Hagerty, ''NPR''<ref name=npr />}}
==Composition==
==Composition==
* Lee Ann Phelps, . Worked for Shawnee County Sheriff's Department.<ref name=spc />
* Lee Ann Phelps, . Worked for Shawnee County Sheriff's Department.<ref name=spc />
* Elizabeth Pehlps, . Worked for Shawnee County Sheriff's Department.<ref name=spc />
* Elizabeth Pehlps, . Worked for Shawnee County Sheriff's Department.<ref name=spc />
==Protests==
==Protests==