c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Ten years ago, the death of gay college student Matthew Shepard shocked the nation when he was found beaten to death and tied to a split-rail fence outside Laramie, Wyo.

Just as shocking were the protesters who showed up outside his funeral at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Casper carrying signs that read, “God Hates Fags” and “Matt in Hell.”

“The need for us to be there was so compelling,” said Shirley Phelps-Roper, whose father, Fred Phelps, leads frequent virulent anti-gay crusades from his Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.

“There was not a chance in the world that we could call ourselves serving God and his generation and not get there.”

In the years since, Phelps has expanded his protests to include military funerals for America’s war dead in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 9/11 terrorist attacks and dead soldiers, he preaches, are God’s punishment for the country’s acceptance of homosexuality.

Now, on the 10-year anniversary of Shepard’s death (Oct. 12), America’s most controversial and caustic pastor has become an unwitting ally _ and fundraising tool _ for the very people he condemns to hell: gays and lesbians.

“(Phelps has) brought us more allies and helped us raise more money than anyone else,” said Cathy Renna, whose Washington PR firm works with Matthew’s mother and the foundation established in his name. She said the opponents have brought together “a fascinating array of counter-protesters.”

Those who oppose Phelps and his group say they’ve found creative ways to respond to the protests. Jim Osborn, who attended the University of Wyoming with Shepard and now works to promote diversity on campus, has organized several “Phelps-a-thons.”

“For every minute that Phelps protests,” Osborn said, “somewhere people pledge money and that money goes to a (lesbian-gay-bisexual) cause.”

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On the first day of the trial for one of the two men consequently convicted of murdering Shepard, Osborn heard that Phelps was coming with his trademark signs and bullhorn. Osborn and his friends surrounded Phelps’ group with homemade angel wings.

“They were made from PVC pipe and bedsheets, and as we came walking up for just a moment Phelps and his group fell silent,” Osborn recalled. “We lined up wingtip to wingtip and surrounded their fenced area and blocked some of the signs so that it was harder for people to see.”

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Over the past 10 years, Phelps and his supporters have “energized the gay movement,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that works with gay and lesbian Catholics.

“(Shepard’s death) helped a lot of mainstream church people see that anti-gay positions were literally killing people,” DeBernardo said. “It caused a lot of them to be aware that they had to condemn violence.”

From the moment Phelps emerged on the national scene, he has been denounced and held at more than arm’s length by mainstream clergy and churches who oppose homosexuality yet condemn Phelps’ hateful rhetoric.

When Phelps appears outside Lutheran, Presbyterian or United Methodist conventions where homosexuality is on the agenda, conservative groups are careful to stress that they do not endorse Phelps or his tactics.

“We are very intentional about being gracious and loving and sharing that compassionate message, rather than beating people over the head,” said Alan Chambers, executive director of Exodus International, a Christian ministry that believes homosexuality can be changed through prayer and counseling. “(Phelps) helps strengthen our resolve to share Christ’s message of love.”

Phelps’ public profile has also motivated gays’ and lesbians’ heterosexual allies to be more vocal.

“My concern about what happened around Matthew’s death 10 years ago was not extremism so much as it was the horrifying silence from pulpits around the country,” said Harry Knox, who directs faith programs for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group.

“I think most clergy did begin to speak when they realized that their silence was deafening. If the only person was talking was Fred Phelps, then they weren’t doing their job.”

DeBernardo, however, concedes that there are limits to how much Phelps’ own words can be used against him and in support of gay causes.

“Someone who’s on the fence about gay issues is not going to look at Fred Phelps and say, `There’s a position I’m against, so I’m going to become pro-gay,”’ he said. “And those who are already anti-gay are not going to look at Fred Phelps and say, `He’s our hero.”’

Phelps-Roper, too, dismisses attempts to either co-opt her church’s message or block it out entirely. She noted that “The Laramie Project,” an HBO movie based on Shepard’s life and death, has brought her church’s message to a wide audience. And it never cost them a dime.

“Somebody always has a gimmick whereby they think they’re going to blot out the word of God from the landscape,” she said, “and it doesn’t work.”

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Eds: Note time reference (Oct. 12 in 6th graf).

A file photo of Fred Phelps is available via https://religionnews.com.