Posted on Tue, Mar. 01, 2005
Discrimination law repeal on ballot in anti-gay picketers' city
JOHN HANNA
Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. - For years, the Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. and the family who comprise most of his church's membership have staged intensely anti-gay pickets in the Kansas capital and across the nation, even at the funeral of a gay Wyoming man who was beaten to death.
He's taken his cause to voters here, who will decide whether to repeal a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians in municipal hiring, and block future efforts to reinstate such a law for 10 years.
His granddaughter also is trying to unseat the first openly gay member of the City Council.
Polls were to close at 7 p.m. CST Tuesday in the city's primary election. Council member Tiffany Muller and Jael Phelps (pronounced JAY-el) were among four candidates in the 9th district, which covers working-class and more affluent neighborhoods in northwestern and north-central Topeka.
The younger Phelps said she doesn't mind the focus on her church's anti-gay picketing or its attempt to repeal the anti-discrimination ordinance. Muller, however, is frustrated because issues normally prominent in city races, such as creating jobs, aren't being debated.
And, Muller said, "There is never a final battle between the Phelpses and the gay community."
The Human Rights Campaign, the Washington-based gay rights group, said approval of the Phelps-backed proposal would make Topeka the only American city with an ordinance blocking anti-discrimination policies for 10 years. It's patterned after a Cincinnati ordinance adopted in 1993 but repealed last year.
Muller, a 26-year-old grant writer, and Jael Phelps, a 20-year-old nursing student, hope to appear on the city's general election ballot April 5, when voters statewide also will decide whether to amend the Kansas Constitution to ban gay marriage.
Others in the race are Richard Harmon, a 48-year-old attorney, and Robert Percival, a 48-year-old state corrections worker.
Last year, after the city council appointed Muller to fill a vacancy, she sought a broad anti-discrimination ordinance applying to private employment, housing and public accommodations. When it became clear the council wouldn't approve it, she and other backers settled for a narrower ordinance in November.
Only three local governments in Kansas to have such an ordinance. One in Shawnee County applies only to government employment, but one in Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, is broader.
The senior Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church then launched a petition drive against the ordinance.
That wasn't surprising. His began its anti-gay pickets more than a decade ago, with signs such as, "God hates fags." His church's demonstration at the 1998 funeral of Wyoming beating victim Matthew Shepherd led to his portrayal in the play, "The Laramie Project."
His targets include churches - even conservative ones - he deems too soft on homosexuality and labels "fag-enablers." He said he didn't care how the vote turned out because his job is to preach.
"This fight has just barely begun," he said.
But also supporting the ordinance's repeal were clergy who viewed it as a small step toward governmental acceptance of homosexuality.
"We're always painted in Fred Phelps' camp," said the Rev. Bob Hanson, pastor at Topeka's Shawnee Heights Baptist Church. "We don't agree with his preaching and teaching. We don't agree with his signs."
Before the election, Time magazine declared that Topeka "can perhaps lay claim to being the homophobia capital of the U.S."
"I would think anybody who votes 'yes' today has to hold their noses," said Bill Beachy, president of Concerned Citizens of Topeka, which formed a decade ago to oppose the senior Phelps and his church.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...1022976.htm?1c
Discrimination law repeal on ballot in anti-gay picketers' city
JOHN HANNA
Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. - For years, the Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. and the family who comprise most of his church's membership have staged intensely anti-gay pickets in the Kansas capital and across the nation, even at the funeral of a gay Wyoming man who was beaten to death.
He's taken his cause to voters here, who will decide whether to repeal a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians in municipal hiring, and block future efforts to reinstate such a law for 10 years.
His granddaughter also is trying to unseat the first openly gay member of the City Council.
Polls were to close at 7 p.m. CST Tuesday in the city's primary election. Council member Tiffany Muller and Jael Phelps (pronounced JAY-el) were among four candidates in the 9th district, which covers working-class and more affluent neighborhoods in northwestern and north-central Topeka.
The younger Phelps said she doesn't mind the focus on her church's anti-gay picketing or its attempt to repeal the anti-discrimination ordinance. Muller, however, is frustrated because issues normally prominent in city races, such as creating jobs, aren't being debated.
And, Muller said, "There is never a final battle between the Phelpses and the gay community."
The Human Rights Campaign, the Washington-based gay rights group, said approval of the Phelps-backed proposal would make Topeka the only American city with an ordinance blocking anti-discrimination policies for 10 years. It's patterned after a Cincinnati ordinance adopted in 1993 but repealed last year.
Muller, a 26-year-old grant writer, and Jael Phelps, a 20-year-old nursing student, hope to appear on the city's general election ballot April 5, when voters statewide also will decide whether to amend the Kansas Constitution to ban gay marriage.
Others in the race are Richard Harmon, a 48-year-old attorney, and Robert Percival, a 48-year-old state corrections worker.
Last year, after the city council appointed Muller to fill a vacancy, she sought a broad anti-discrimination ordinance applying to private employment, housing and public accommodations. When it became clear the council wouldn't approve it, she and other backers settled for a narrower ordinance in November.
Only three local governments in Kansas to have such an ordinance. One in Shawnee County applies only to government employment, but one in Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, is broader.
The senior Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church then launched a petition drive against the ordinance.
That wasn't surprising. His began its anti-gay pickets more than a decade ago, with signs such as, "God hates fags." His church's demonstration at the 1998 funeral of Wyoming beating victim Matthew Shepherd led to his portrayal in the play, "The Laramie Project."
His targets include churches - even conservative ones - he deems too soft on homosexuality and labels "fag-enablers." He said he didn't care how the vote turned out because his job is to preach.
"This fight has just barely begun," he said.
But also supporting the ordinance's repeal were clergy who viewed it as a small step toward governmental acceptance of homosexuality.
"We're always painted in Fred Phelps' camp," said the Rev. Bob Hanson, pastor at Topeka's Shawnee Heights Baptist Church. "We don't agree with his preaching and teaching. We don't agree with his signs."
Before the election, Time magazine declared that Topeka "can perhaps lay claim to being the homophobia capital of the U.S."
"I would think anybody who votes 'yes' today has to hold their noses," said Bill Beachy, president of Concerned Citizens of Topeka, which formed a decade ago to oppose the senior Phelps and his church.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...1022976.htm?1c
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