Okla. Town, Once Wary, Rallies Around Gay Teen ; Kansas Church's Protest Stirs Neighbors' Protective Spirit

Summary

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SAND SPRINGS, Okla. - The fliers arrived late last month. Some came over the fax machines of local churches, and others appeared mysteriously around town. Printed in bold was the heading "Westboro Baptist Church." No seeming cause for alarm. Sand Springs, population 18,500, is a Christian stronghold in the gently rolling hills of eastern Oklahoma.

But the message that followed was a rant against a 17-year-old Sand Springs resident named Michael Shackelford and his mother, Janice, the subjects of a recent Washington Post series examining Michael's struggles as a young gay man in the Bible Belt. The fliers posted a photo of Michael, called him a "doomed teenage fag" and announced that followers of Westboro Baptist in Topeka were on their way from Kansas to stage anti-gay protests in Sand Springs.

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Okla. Town, Once Wary, Rallies Around Gay Teen ; Kansas Church's Protest Stirs Neighbors' Protective Spirit

Public theater is the specialty of Westboro Baptist and its minister, Fred Phelps, whose place on the extreme fringe of the anti- gay movement is symbolized by his Web site, godhatesfags.com. But this time, Phelps picked a formidable target.

Oklahoma could never be mistaken for a liberal blue state. President Bush grabbed the seven electoral votes here, winning 60 percent of the popular vote. A state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage passed by a 3-to-1 ratio.

Sand Springs is the essence of pious Oklahoma. Downtown, a veterinary clinic with loudspeakers on its roof plays a taped carillon of hymns and patrio...

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