Reply #1: My theory on these characters: [View All]

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

They are grifters, pure and simple. They don't even believe their own "God hates fags" bullshit. They've merely come up with a gimmick that's guaranteed to offend pretty much everybody, and they are using it to make money from litigation. Standing around with "God Hates Fags" signs obviously will offend the GLBT community and most liberals. But, if you are a Phelps (and they are almost all lawyers, btw), go farther; be even more provocative: Demonstrate outside the funeral of a soldier or a police officer or some other person most people would consider heroic or honorable, holding signs suggesting that the person's death was deserved as God's punishment for America's toleration of gay people. Provoke the family and friends of the deceased as much as possible. Take advantage of your First Amendment right to be despicable asshole; push your free speech right to the edge. And make a bundle when your rights are "violated" when you are sued or assaulted.

Therefore, IMO, the *only* effective way of dealing with them is to ignore them completely. Their entire purpose is provocation; the worst thing that can happen to them, as far as they are concerned, is that nobody bothers with them. A peaceful counter-protest would make an appropriate statement, of course, but these dirtbags really don't care. All they want is to be hassled so they can sue. Ignore them. Pretend they aren't there. If they can't make any money from lawsuits eventually they'll dry up and blow away.