Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 17:48:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: Kevyn D Jacobs <kevyn@ksu.ksu.edu>
Subject: Phelps Children to be Rewarded for Protests



Phelps Children May be Rewarded by School for Anti-Gay Activities
 
by Doug Glaze
 
The children of the Reverend Fred Phelps may be given credit for 
participating in their father's protests against Lesbians and Gays under 
a program of U.S.D. 501 in Topeka where they attend school. 
 
The school district rewards students who volunteer for community 
organizations, churches, businesses, or individuals by listing these 
activities on their transcript as a community service,  a spokesperson 
in  Superintendent Joe Zima's office said Friday. 
 
On Wednesday, October 5, KTKA-TV Channel 49 in Topeka aired a story 
saying the children had filled out the necessary paperwork asking that 
participation in their father's anti-Gay protests be listed as a 
community service and placed on their transcript. KTKA reported that 
school officials had rejected the application on the grounds that 
the form had been improperly filled out.  
 
A spokesperson in Superintendent Zima's office said Friday that the 
Phelps children had re-applied and that no decision had yet been reached 
as to whether the children would be granted credit for participating in 
their father's protests.  The spokesperson said they expect a decision 
on whether or not to grant the request by sometime late this week, and 
would not speculate on whether a student volunteering for a Lesbian/Gay 
community organization would be granted approval under the program until 
a statement on the program was released. 
 
Phelps is a preacher at Westboro Batptist Church in Topeka, a church he 
runs out of his own home and which consists mainly of family members. 
Phelps regularly pickets outside local businesses and institutions he 
believes are sympathethic to Lesbians and Gays with signs that say "Fag 
Lovers" and "Death to Fags." Phelps has also picketed at the funerals 
of those he believed died of AIDS, saying he believes Gay men spread 
the disease intentionally. The Phelps children are regular participants 
in such picketing, which has garnered the family national attention on  
ABC's "20-20" program and in the Advocate magazine.