Phelps Supreme Court Case

I took one semester of journalism law so I'm an expert on free speech.  I am also an expert on the Phelps family.  I got to see them in person when they rode into Des Moines.  I had the courage to look them right in the spot where their eyes should have been and ask the tough questions.

This is when he shared an excellent recipe for homemade gingersnaps.

Now the Phelps folks have been taken to the supreme court after they were sued by the father of a dead soldier.  It was on March 10, 2006 at U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder's funeral that they protested gays in the military.  They did this even though Snyder was not gay.  This may seem strange but I have a theory.


My theory behind this protest is that with the 2005 release of Brokeback Mountain, Phelps became outraged that his favorite style of hat was now being placed on top of men who were occasionally placed on top of other men.  It was truly a huge blow by the gay community to Fred Phelps' tender head.  It was soon after that Phelps became a gay icon and sex symbol.  Phelps needed to assert his true sexuality to the world because he was tired of the constant voice mails left by Neil Patrick Harris.  It was then that he increased his protesting to even protest non-gay military funerals.  Phelps went to his closet and got all of his specially made signs and shortly thereafter came out of that closet with his rainbow colored signs to prove he wasn't gay.

I can't tell them apart.

The supreme court case is a "delicate test between the privacy rights of grieving families and the free speech rights of demonstrators, however disturbing and provocative their message. Several states have attempted to impose specific limits on when and where the church members can protest." Via CNN


This case will not be an easy one to decide.  I would simply like to remind the Supreme Court that they should not be too restrictive in the ruling on the Phelp's case.  Protests and gatherings should still be allowed at funerals.  Free speech needs to prevail. This way, when Fred Phelps and his crazy family die, I can have a big party at their funerals.  There will be shirtless dudes playing volleyball, chicks making out, and a performance by the cast of Glee.  It's what Fred would have wanted.