(Salem, Oregon) A group of militant anti-gay demonstrators, followers of the Rev. Fred Phelps, staged a noisy demonstration Tuesday morning outside Oregon Supreme Court building to demand laws to bar same-sex marriage.
The leader of the group, Jonathan Phelps, son of the preacher, stomped on the American flag and declared his contempt for the country's growing tolerance of homosexuality. The younger Phelps, yelling at passersby, said that gays that they will stand before God's judgment and burn in hell.
"I'd be burning it, but I didn't get a burn permit," said Phelps of the flag.
Followers of the senior Phelps, mostly relatives, make up his Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church, which travels around the country to protest homosexuality. The church is not part of any recognized Baptist sect and Phelps is a disbarred lawyer. Fred Phelps did not attend the protest.
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