Anti-gay church hounds military funerals
· US states pass laws to try to limit demonstrations
· Preacher damns soldiers defending 'fag nation'
Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday April 18, 2006
The Guardian

New laws have been passed in the United States to counter the activities of a bizarre church that has been disrupting military funerals with anti-gay protests on the grounds that the soldiers died fighting for a land that tolerates homosexuality.

Since last year, the Westboro Baptist church, based in Topeka, Kansas, has been picketing funerals of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, waving signs saying, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers", "Thank God for IEDs [improvised explosive devices - roadside bombs]", and "God Hates Cripple Soldiers", while yelling that dead US troops will rot in hell. the rest