Kansas Bans Picketing of Funerals to Protest Homosexuals

[proud2BlibKansan]

TOPEKA, Kansas — The governor of Kansas signed a law Thursday barring protesters from funerals in an attempt to curtail a fundamentalist church that pickets military funerals, claiming the deaths are God's punishment for homosexuality.

However, the legislation has the legal novelty of not taking effect until the Kansas Supreme Court or a federal court upholds it as constitutional.

Legislators added that provision to lessen concerns that the Rev. Fred Phelps and his followers would file a legal challenge, win and collect attorney fees from the state.

"It's disgraceful for anyone to try and disrupt a funeral," Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said during a Statehouse ceremony. "It is unfortunate this reprehensible practice has been exported to other states."

The members of Westboro Baptist Church, a small fundamentalist congregation in Topeka, picket burials of U.S. troops killed in combat. They say those deaths are God's punishment for a nation that harbors homosexuals, and maintain that their protests are a form of religious expression protected by the U.S. Constitution.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,265622,00.html

[Erika]

1. But the GOP is on record for hating gays

Every anti gay organization is welcomed and promoted by the GOP, from CWA to AFA to FRC.

The GOP has ben responsible for the entire hate gays movement.

[Mabus]

10. What does the GOP have to do with it?

:shrug: The governor of our fair state is a Democrat. We kicked out a five-time GOP incumbent and elected a Dem to his seat in Congress. We kicked out a fundamentalist AG and replaced him with a Dem. We also replaced a number of Republicans in the state legislature and on the local level last year.

In the meantime the Kansas GOP is falling apart. They have lost most of their base around here. There have been high-profile defections and some of the Republican candidates who lost their primaries in August campaigned for the Democratic candidate in the general election because they thought their party's choosen candidate was a wacko.

and on edit: there are still a number of the crazier GOP'ers in the state legislature but overall they're overall numbers have decreased. The trend is really towards the middle with an emphasis on the center. There was a bloody battle a couple of years ago over education funding, then there's been the whole stupidity of the Kansas state school board that has gotten more sensible Republicans out to vote against the wackos.

[Erika]

12. Good for the Dems. But Phelps was encouraged by the GOP

For the last six years.

[Mabus]

17. What does that have to do with the opening post?

Phelps may get some support from Republicans somewhere but most of the local GOP try to steer clear of him. GOP candidates return donations from the Phelps except for the ones that are fundamentalist RW idiots. A lot of local Republicans don't want to have anything to do with him either. In fact, this is probably the most publicity the Phelps' have gotten in our state since Michael Moore featured them on his show years ago. We ignore them. They don't get TV time, no one interviews them and that's why they go elsewhere. If you watch the coverage you see in the media you'll notice that there are very few if any stories about them emanating from Kansas.

One of the reasons we Dems don't like to talk about him is because the Phelps clan were registered Democrats for years. Before Fred went homophobic he used to hold fundraisers for the Democratic party. He was a KS Dem delegate to the national convention at least once. There are pictures on the internet showing Fred hosting a fundraiser for the Gores and our Democratic Gov. Joan Finney. These pictures surfaced back in 2000 thanks to the Log Cabin Republicans. What they forgot to mention was that one of the Phelps Phamily's first anti-gay protests was at the funeral of Al Gore Sr. because of their opposition to Clinton/Gore's support for gay rights.

The entire Westboro congregation picketed a 1997 inaugural ball<37>, denouncing Gore as a "famous fag pimp."<38> In 1998, Westboro picketed the funeral of Gore's father, screaming vulgarities at Gore and telling him, "your dad's in Hell."<38>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps#Opposition_to_Al_Gore_and_Bill_Clinton

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Where did you get that idea?

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. I have witnessed one of their . . .

vile "protests". Little kids holding hate signs. :grr:

[Erika]

4. The GOP emboldened the hate gays movement

Don't forget that.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

8. yes.

It's the old Nazi fear playbook.

And it works all too well.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Fred Phelps is a shithead. But without new laws, couldn't they just restrict any protests to a

"free speech zone" in a parking lot several miles away? That's what they've been doing with the Preznit for years, now.

[Erika]

5. Yeah, why don't they use the GOP to do so

The GOP emboldened this hate.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I'm just saying. It's not like people have the free right to protest anywhere they want as it is. nt

[Erika]

11. It's about gays and the GOP spread their hatred

and silent OK to discriminate and humiliate. Westboro bought into the GOP movement against gays.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. You and I are both making two extremely valid points.

But those two points don't have much to do with each other.

[Pro2nd]

6. Unnecessary law

Why waste the money on passing and enforcing a new law? A good beat-down by the fallen soldier's platoon would be sufficient.

[Erika]

9. That doesn't change the GOP fueled this hatred of Gays n/t

[Pro2nd]

13. Although the GOP record on gay issues isn't exactly stellar,

I haven't heard anybody on the right taking the side of these clowns.

[Erika]

15. The right enabled these clowns n/t

[Pro2nd]

23. Not to defend Hannity,

because I think he's a whiny little bitch, but he's the one who's slammed these inbred assholes the hardest. I'm no right-winger by any means, but I'd like to see evidence that anyone in a position of power or influence on the right has supported these nutjobs in any way.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. The fallen soldier's platoon isn't around ...

They're still in the middle east, with their tours extended.

Plus, I think these so-called "christians" would love to get beat up, recorded on film, so they can sue. And I'd bet the ACLU would jump to their aid, defending their first amendment rights, in a massive display of irony.

[Pro2nd]

24. Any cop worth his salt

would say "hey, we only had vague descriptions of the suspects. They were 18-30 years of age with military-type haircuts. That could be anybody. Case closed, no leads." That's what I'd do anyway.

[flying_monkeys]

14. Color me stupid, but how would that work?

I mean, how does it get to the Courts to determine its constitutionality unless it is applied against someone who then challenges it? If it doesn't go into effect until it is upheld, but it won't get into the court works until it gets used, but it won't get used unless it is valid - - what am I missing here? How does it get to the point of being used and challenged?


Please connect the dots for me here?

[Mabus]

20. There is similiar legislation in other states that is working its way through the system

For the most part, the Phelps Phamily doesn't do anything in Kansas because they don't get attention from the local media for it. I saw them at the opening ceremonies of the Dole Center a few years ago and besides their annual protest at the law school graduation ceremony I don't see much of them around here.

In other words, the legislation is symbolic because the Phelps family is too busy traveling around the country to hold protests here. As strange as it sounds, this really does work out. For example, we get to donate money for the legal expenses of the people who have accidently almost run over the Phelps family (it's been know to happen around these parts }( when the family shows up at the wrong funeral) instead of having our tax dollars spent trying to fight yet another lawsuit that the Phelps will file (you do know the are a family of lawyers).

[karlrschneider]

16. Well, I applaud the spirit of this so-called 'legislation', but it makes no sense.

If it's contingent on some nebulous future 'validation' by the courts, it's not a law at all. What kind of mealy-mouthed crap is this? It makes absolutely no legal sense at all. :eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. She wants to make sure it sticks

We have been battling Phelps here in Kansas for YEARS. Our governor just wants to make sure this law does the trick.

[Erika]

21. K and R n/t

[Jersey Devil]

22. Well, doncha gotta pertect yerself from homos?

'specially the younguns!

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news0704/homoprevention.html