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In the movie ''Hatemongers'', members of the Westboro Baptist Church state their children were being "accosted" by homosexuals in [[Gage Park, Topeka|Gage Park]], about half-a-mile from the Phelps' home (and a mile northwest of the Westboro Church). [[Shirley Phelps-Roper]] says that, in the late 1980s, Fred Phelps witnessed a homosexual attempting to lure her then five-year-old son Joshua into some shrubbery. After several complaints to the local government about the large amount of homosexual sex occurring in the park, with no resulting action, the Phelpses put up signs warning of homosexual activity. This resulted in much negative attention for the family. When the Phelpses called on local churches to speak against the activity in Gage Park, the churches also lashed out against the Phelps family, leading to the family protesting homosexuality on a regular basis.<ref name="ocweekly1999"/> |
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In the movie ''Hatemongers'', members of the Westboro Baptist Church state their children were being "accosted" i.e. molested by homosexuals in [[Gage Park, Topeka|Gage Park]], about half-a-mile from the Phelps' home (and a mile northwest of the Westboro Church). [[Shirley Phelps-Roper]] says that, in the late 1980s, Fred Phelps witnessed a homosexual attempting to lure her then five-year-old son Joshua into some shrubbery. After several complaints to the local government about the large amount of homosexual sex occurring in the park, with no resulting action, the Phelpses put up signs warning of homosexual activity. This resulted in much negative attention for the family. When the Phelpses called on local churches to speak against the activity in Gage Park, the churches also lashed out against the Phelps family, leading to the family protesting homosexuality on a regular basis.<ref name="ocweekly1999"/> |
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In 2005, Phelps and his family, along with several other local congregations, held a signature drive to bring about a vote to repeal two city ordinances that added sexual orientation to a definition of [[hate crime]]s and banned the city itself from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Enough signatures were collected to bring the measure to a vote.<ref>{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/022705/mid_primaryquestion.shtml|title=Issue Becomes a Line in the Sand for Some|last=Hrenchir|first=Tim|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=February 27, 2005|accessdate=December 10, 2012}}</ref> Topeka voters defeated the repeal measure on March 1, 2005, by a 53–47% margin. In the same election, Phelps' granddaughter Jael was an unsuccessful candidate for the Topeka City Council, seeking to replace Tiffany Muller, the first openly gay member of the Council.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7053489/ns/us_news/t/topeka-voters-reject-repeal-anti-bias-law/#.TviwuFaAZ8E|title=Topeka Voters Reject Repeal of Anti-Bias Law|date=March 2, 2005|work=[[MSN]]|accessdate=December 10, 2012}}</ref> |
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In 2005, Phelps and his family, along with several other local congregations, held a signature drive to bring about a vote to repeal two city ordinances that added sexual orientation to a definition of [[hate crime]]s and banned the city itself from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Enough signatures were collected to bring the measure to a vote.<ref>{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/022705/mid_primaryquestion.shtml|title=Issue Becomes a Line in the Sand for Some|last=Hrenchir|first=Tim|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=February 27, 2005|accessdate=December 10, 2012}}</ref> Topeka voters defeated the repeal measure on March 1, 2005, by a 53–47% margin. In the same election, Phelps' granddaughter Jael was an unsuccessful candidate for the Topeka City Council, seeking to replace Tiffany Muller, the first openly gay member of the Council.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7053489/ns/us_news/t/topeka-voters-reject-repeal-anti-bias-law/#.TviwuFaAZ8E|title=Topeka Voters Reject Repeal of Anti-Bias Law|date=March 2, 2005|work=[[MSN]]|accessdate=December 10, 2012}}</ref> |