Fred Phelps: How Westboro pastor spread 'God hates fags'

Fred Phelps: How Westboro pastor spread 'God hates fags'
Pastor Fred Phelps, head of the Westboro Baptist Church, is dead at age 84. Despite being widely disavowed, his shock slogan, 'God hates fags', made
headlines around the world. How did he come up with the infamous message?
The Westboro Baptist Church has been holding services since 1955, but didn't turn its attention to homosexuality until about 20 years ago.
Until then, Fred Phelps was known more for his civil rights work - and his nuisance lawsuits - than for his anti-gay activism.
But those who monitored Phelps say the focus on sexuality was always a part of his message.
"Phelps was obsessed with human sexuality for his entire life, going back six decades," says Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
He notes that Phelps was profiled in Time magazine in 1952 because he had a street ministry against petting and dirty jokes.
It wasn't until 1991 that the modern movement began to form.
 Phelps, shown with his wife and some of his signs, in 2007
"Locally, the church is near a park in Topeka, Kansas, called Gage park," says Fred Mann, a reporter for the Wichita Eagle, who has written about Phelps in
the past.