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Fort Lauderdale is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Florida. After Miami and Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale is the third-most populous city in the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,166,488 in 2019.
Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166,488 people at the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,426.
Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. was an American minister and disbarred lawyer who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, and ran for statewide election in Kansas. A divisive and controversial figure, he gained national attention for his homophobic views and protests near the funerals of gay people, AIDS victims, military veterans, and disaster victims who he believed were killed as a result of God punishing the U.S. for having "bankrupt values" and tolerating homosexuality. Phelps founded the Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka, Kansas-based independent Primitive Baptist congregation, in 1955. It has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America". Its signature slogan, "God Hates Fags", remains the name of the group's principal website.
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group, and is known for its public protests against gay people and for its usage of the phrases "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". It also engages in hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and other Christian denominations. The WBC's theology and practices are widely condemned by other Christian churches, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Southern Baptist Convention, and by politicians and public figures, including former U.S. President Barack Obama.
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Nathan Phelps is an American-born Canadian author, LGBT rights activist, and public speaker on the topics of religion and child abuse. He is the sixth-born of the 13 children of Fred Phelps, from whom he – along with three of his siblings – had been estranged since his 18th birthday in 1976 until his father's death in 2014. Phelps ran away from his family home when he turned 18, and permanently left the Westboro Baptist Church four years later in 1980. He has since publicly censured the group.
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The Equality House is a rainbow-colored house in Topeka, Kansas that is situated on the corner of 12th and Orleans Street, across from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT hate group. The property was purchased by Aaron Jackson, the founder of the nonprofit organization Planting Peace, after he saw a "for sale" sign on a nearby house when looking at the community on Google Earth. He had the house painted in the colors of the rainbow flag to show support for LGBT rights.
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The Pride Center at Equality Park is an LGBTQ+ community center in Wilton Manors, Florida, that serves Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Fort Lauderdale. The center provides information, news, and events that affect South Florida's LGBT community. Established in 1993, the center is headquartered within a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) building with meeting and office space for individuals, programs, services, and organizations. The goal of the center is to empower the LGBT communities in South Florida.
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Westboro Baptist Church carries out daily picketing in Topeka, Kansas, and travels nationally to picket the funerals of gay victims of murder or gay-bashing, as well as those of people who have died from complications related to AIDS. It also pickets other events related or peripherally related to homosexuality. It is the protesting of military funerals that led to the organization receiving much attention for its small size. Protests done by Westboro Baptist Church are characterized by defacement of the American flag, hate speech said by members to onlookers, and members holding signs with predominantly homophobic and anti-American statements.
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Timothy "Chaz" Stevens is an American political activist, artist, software developer, and entrepreneur from Florida. He is active in local politics in Broward County, and has gained national notoriety for his colorful statewide and national advocacy for the separation of church and state. His local political activity has led to charges being filed against, and the decrease in popularity of, several local politicians, including two mayors and a former mayor of his hometown, Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was appointed twice to the Deerfield Beach Housing Authority board by one of the mayors he criticized. His activism for the removal of religion from government has included placing Festivus poles in multiple Florida cities and six U.S. state capitols to contrast with holiday season religious displays on government property, and requests to deliver Satanic invocations when government meetings allow prayer or other religious invocations. In many cases this has led to the government agencies removing the targeted religious activities. His activism is always satirical, sometimes artistic, and often obscene or profane.
References
- 1 2 Eric Alan Barton (July 21, 2005). "Saint Aaron". Broward Palm Beach New Times. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Joseph Erbentraut (October 28, 2015). "What The Equality House Can Teach Us About Making Societal Change". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Deirdra Funcheon (March 22, 2016). "Antarctica Declared the First LGBT-Friendly Continent by Aaron Jackson of Planting Peace". Broward Palm Beach New Times. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- 1 2 Dylan Bouscher (November 11, 2014). "Aaron Jackson, CNN Hero, Distributes Pizza to Homeless Outside City Hall". Broward Palm Beach New Times. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ Michael J. Mooney (January 15, 2009). "Healing Haiti". Miami New Times. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ Lorena Ruiz (March 23, 2013). "Meet Aaron Jackson, prideful neighbor of Westboro Baptist Church". NBC News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ Mackenzie Young (March 21, 2013). "Man Turns House Across the Street From Westboro Baptist Church Into Gay Pride Flag". Time. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ Eyder Peralta (March 19, 2013). "House Across From Westboro Baptist Is Painted With Gay Pride Rainbow Colors". NPR. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ James Nichols (December 27, 2013). "21 Of The Biggest LGBT Allies of 2013". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ Tanya Basu (September 13, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Mocked by Billboard in Her Hometown". Time. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ David Badash (March 22, 2016). "Antarctica Has Now Been Declared the World's First LGBT Friendly Continent". The New Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved May 30, 2016.