Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper ( Phelps; born October 31, 1957) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. She was the lead spokesperson of the

Westboro Baptist Church The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American unaffiliated Primitive Baptists, Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group and a cult, and is known for Prot ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, an organization that protests against

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

conducted under the slogan "God Hates Fags" until a power struggle within the organization reduced her status.

Early life and education

Shirley Phelps was born October 31, 1957, in

. She is the daughter of Margie Marie (Simms) and pastor

Fred Phelps Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American Minister (Christianity), minister and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, ...

, minister of the

, an independent church characterized as a

hate group A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. Acc ...

by the Anti-Defamation League and the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

.Southern Poverty Law Cente
" The Year in Hate:2005".
Accessed October 5, 2006. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice in 1979 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1981 from

Washburn University Washburn University (WU), formally Washburn University of Topeka, is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs as well as professional programs in law and business. The university enroll ...

in Topeka.

Career

Phelps-Roper practices law for Phelps-Chartered Co., the Phelps family's law firm established by her father in 1964. According to her firm's web page, she has been licensed to practice in Kansas and federal courts. Besides her father Fred, Shirley Phelps-Roper was the most active spokesperson of the Westboro Baptist Church and answered many of the e-mails sent to the church in a column called "Dear Shirley". She and other family members have become known for picketing at funerals of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

victims with signs such as "God hates fags" and at funeral processions for American soldiers killed in combat. In 2006, in the aftermath of the West Nickel Mines School shooting, Phelps-Roper was invited to ''

Hannity & Colmes ''Hannity & Colmes'' was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final ...

'' on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

. During the interview, Alan Colmes questioned Phelps-Roper as to whether the five

Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...

girls deserved to die, to which she responded that they did, prompting condemnation by Colmes and co-host

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...

who called her sick and evil. In February 2008, Phelps-Roper traveled to the community of

DeKalb, Illinois DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,290 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian-French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died during the Ameri ...

, to picket memorials for the victims of the Northern Illinois University shooting. Phelps-Roper said that "God adsent the shooter" because they "don't love Christ". Her plans, however, to picket other university memorials were blocked. Shirley Roper-Phelps

By 2014, Phelps-Roper's duties as spokesperson for the Westboro Church had been reduced after a power struggle within the church, and her authority transferred to an all-male board of elders.

Legal issues

Phelps-Roper was arrested on June 5, 2007, on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Police alleged that she allowed her son to trample an American flag while protesting the funeral of a soldier in Bellevue, Nebraska, which is a misdemeanor in the state. Phelps-Roper announced her intent to challenge the constitutionality of the Nebraska statute. The charges against her were dropped when she agreed to dismiss pending lawsuits filed against Sarpy County in state and federal court. Phelps-Roper was named a defendant in the Supreme Court case '' Snyder v. Phelps''. She has been placed on the

list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom The Home Office, a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, United Kingdom government department, has, from August 2005 to 31 March 2009, excluded 101 individuals from the United Kingdom, UK for having "engaged in unacceptable behaviour". Of t ...

for "fostering extremism or hatred".

Personal life

Shirley_Phelps-Roper_on_sofa_with_HG_2018

Phelps-Roper is married to Brent D. Roper and they have 11 children. Five of her children, notably Megan Phelps-Roper, have left the church. In a 2007

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary featuring Welsh personality Keith Allen, Phelps-Roper said on camera that her oldest son, Samuel, was born out of wedlock. When asked if she would go to hell for her actions, Phelps-Roper explained that "I know better" and had "put away" such behavior.''Keith Allen will Burn in Hell''
At 33:29: Allen: "Is he (name) the illegitimate son?" Phelps-Roper: "He's my son." Allen: "Is he the illegitimate son?" Phelps-Roper: "Yes." Allen: "Are you going to hell?" Phelps-Roper: "If the lord Jesus Christ did not die on that cross for me, for my sins, I am going to hell." Allen: "Are you going to hell because you had a child out of wedlock?" Phelps-Roper: "That would not be the reason."

References

External links

God Hates Fags"Anonymous Hacks Westboro Baptist Church Website LIVE "
'' The David Pakman Show''.

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. February 24, 2011 *Pavlo, Walter (December 18, 2012)
"Anonymous' Hackers Target Westboro Baptist Church After Protest Plans"
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps-Roper, Shirley 1957 births Living people Christian fundamentalists Baptists from Kansas Kansas lawyers People from Topeka, Kansas Washburn University alumni Westboro Baptist Church Activists from Kansas 21st-century American lawyers Anti-American sentiment in the United States 21st-century American women lawyers Washburn University School of Law alumni