Well, well-- if wonders never cease. It seems that Fred "I'll protest anything" Phelps has a stranger history than even fiction could produce. According to CNN, the head of the Phelps family was once a full-time civil rights attorney-- although his commitment to African-American equality is still very much in doubt, as conflicting reports are coming from the Phelps children.
The CNN article, linked above, does clear up one question I've never found an answer for-- how the Phelps clan can afford to gallivant over the nation doing protests. CNN reports that 11 of 13 of the Phelps kids are attorneys, which might be the answer to how they collectively have the cash to pull off so many publicity stunts all over the country. Not that Phelps is still a practicing attorney himself, however; Phelps was disbarred in 1979 by the Kansas supreme court on account of witness badgering, CNN's John Blake claims. Phelps' daughter, however, claims that the disbarment was on account of animus against her father for his activism for blacks.
The article is an interesting read, for lots of reasons-- quotes from Phelps-Roper on her father and from a son who's left the church, as well as anecdotes from people who knew Phelps before he started carrying placards at Shepard's funeral. You have to read it to believe...
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