Westboro Baptist Church Plans To Picket Elizabeth Taylor's Funeral

Members of Westboro Baptist Church revealed plans on Wednesday to picket the funeral of Elizabeth Taylor, the silver screen legend who passed away this week at the age of 79.

The Twitter stream of Margie Phelps, legal adviser and de facto spokesperson for the small Kansas-based congregation, was littered on Wednesday with messages disparaging the late activist actress and stating plans for Westboro to demonstrate at her forthcoming funeral.

"No RIP Elizabeth Taylor who spent her life in adultery and enabling proud fags. They cuss her in hell today. #Westboro will picket funeral!" one tweet read.

Taylor was a renowned AIDS advocate and one of the first celebrities to tackle the issue during the height of the epidemic in the 1980s. She founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1985, which Time reports has raised over $100 million over 25 years.

The church, which recently won a Supreme Court case ruling that their type of inflammatory protest was protected by the First Amendment, has also notoriously coordinated rallies at the funerals of other public figures such as Elizabeth Edwards, Heath Ledger and Natasha Richardson.

According to TMZ Taylor's funeral will likely take place in Los Angeles.

UPDATE:

Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), has released a statement on the stated plans to picket Taylor's funeral:

"[Founder of Westboro Baptist Church] Fred Phelps and his vitriolic anti-gay followers are simply trying to exploit their so-called 'faith' by spreading messages of hate at a time when Americans are grieving the loss of an extraordinary woman, actress and advocate," said Barrios. "Overwhelmingly, communities of faith are beginning to embrace lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender congregants and sending messages that promote equality for all. GLAAD is urging media to share Elizabeth Taylor's legacy with stories of hope and acceptance, and which highlight her life's work to create a world in which everyone is respected and valued for who they are."

Comments

[Jim Kendall]

01:55 PM on 04/12/2011

Has anyone thought of testing the water, back in Kansas in the area of Westboro "Baptist" "Church"?
Maybe they'd find something in the water that has driven that whole family insane; like lead in the water that led to lead-in-the-head syndrome.

[holapapi]

04:11 PM on 03/29/2011

Too bad for WBC that Lizzy was already in the ground before they could get their bigots together. The highly organized Jews win!

Rest in peace, Elizabeth!

[pheonixcat]

01:06 PM on 03/28/2011

they are the best bible scholars in the land giving tough love to the heathen.

[kevdjb]

01:34 PM on 03/28/2011

You're a pick!

[scoobanchi]

02:02 PM on 03/31/2011

There is NO love in what they do, only hate. As far as calling them scholars, you are simply wrong. They are evil in what they do and what they say. Jesus taught peace, they spout anger and hatred. They will burn on the coals that they have fanned themselves.

[jacobisrael]

07:05 PM on 03/27/2011

REAL Christians would at least understand what our Founding Fathers meant by "free speech" and "free exercise [of religion]", not sit around and whiiiiine about Phelps. If you don't support his right to free speech, you can BET you don't deserve your own.

[ninjasrolled]

11:08 AM on 03/26/2011

Man, I really hate these people.

I call upon "real" Xtians to condemn this sort of thing. Not individuals but pastors, priests, reverends...all heads of churches all across the nation should be shouting as one to distinguish themselves from these frauds. Let their congregations know that this is abhorrent behavior, and not what Jesus would do. Unfortunately, I don't think most of them A. have the balls and B. are really that far off from Westboro. That wacky church just says what most of the others privately think.

[kvolovesart]

07:14 AM on 03/26/2011

Please do not think this so called "church" represents Christians or God for that matter...they are loons...

[AuntInAZ]

05:22 AM on 03/26/2011

Obviously this was another lame publicity stunt by this sick group of people who claim to be a church! They probably knew also her funeral would take place within 48 hours, giving them no time to even organize a protest, let alone carry one out! Margie Phelps sick tweets are further evidence of how pathetic and downright tasteless these poor excuses for human beings really are!

[Demgirls]

01:43 AM on 03/26/2011

Let's see these upstanding citizens and bios on billboards and in newspapers by name.

[Demgirls]

01:41 AM on 03/26/2011

When are we going to picket the pcketters' homes with tasteless signs? When are we going to harass them intoshame by printing their names and addresses?

[Gracey28]

01:02 AM on 03/26/2011

So sad. Surely there has to be a way to stop them from continuing to do this.

[aceempress]

12:53 AM on 03/26/2011

Their mommies definitely did not give them enough attention when they were babies.

[Demgirls]

01:44 AM on 03/26/2011

Some of them look like brainwashed babies with signs.

[janejoad]

07:17 PM on 03/25/2011

Too late. If they new ANYTHING about Jews, they would have been at the ready, but they don't believe in the Old Testament because MANY Christians believe The Old Testament is about Jews and only for Jews. Christians believe in Jesus, so they made him God instead.

[CdVKs58]

04:34 PM on 03/26/2011

This group is a church by virtue of a tax exempt status only & are registered as a hate group with numerous countries.

The group is only 1 extended family with no real parishioners & they claim that theirs is a picketing ministry. (The Fred Phelps & Roper clan)

They have a few kids that have actually changed their name because of the cult-like way the family operates and don't want to be associated with them. There is 1 son (Nathan) who is now actively speaking out against them.

They always seek the spotlight when they think they can get publicity & say that they will picket this or that, but more often than not they don't make it.

If they ever actually show up in a community then that community should take a queue from the Bixby OK people as well as the Patriot Guard who render them silent.

They are primarily all talk & no action, but unfortunately the law does allow them to spew their hate, so it is up to whatever city they have the nerve to show up in to handle their business themselves.

[ChrisDWard]

06:06 PM on 03/25/2011

Too late. Plans thwarted. Elizabeth has been interred. These people represent such ugliness, it is astounding to me that they can be classified a "church." Church of Satan, maybe.

[Edward Goodwin]

05:41 PM on 03/25/2011

Who gives these people the money to travel around the country? Even if they use their own cars, it still costs to have a caravan of cars traveling all over the country like this. They can't have jobs, traveling like they do. I say, find out who's donating to these lunatics and hold protests in front of their homes and businesses.

[janejoad]

07:18 PM on 03/25/2011

The old man sent one of the daughters to Law School so she could fight in front of the SCOTUS.

[aceempress]

12:53 AM on 03/26/2011

The Koch brothers?

[Fred Forte]

05:39 PM on 03/25/2011

Perhaps they should ask themselves 'What would Jesus do?