"They believed there was homosexual activity

"They believed there was homosexual activity in the park. They went with signs, anti-gay signs and then it spread from there."
At first, the "God hates fags" slogan was nowhere to be found.
"I remember them talking about the beginning days of the picketing," says filmmaker K Ryan Jones.
His film Fallen From Grace followed Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church for a year.
He recalls that they told him: "Originally our signs did just say 'gay' or 'homosexual' or that kind of thing, and then we started using 'God Hates Fags'."
They set out to shock - and they knew that those who weren't offended by the use of the word "fag" would bristle at the idea of God hating anyone, says
Jones.
Their tactics seemed to work. Though "God hates fags" is not their only sign, it is one of the best-known and the one most associated with the church.
The signs also provided a pithy explanation of the church's theology, which is explained in greater depth on their website, GodHatesFags.com.
"'God loves everyone' is straight from the mind of Satan and his ministers that serve him," it says.
"In essence 'God loves everyone' means that man can lead a sinful life, violate the commandments of God daily, not fear Him and still go to heaven."
The site provides a detailed chart of everyone in the Bible it says have been killed by God's wrath.