Singer pointed to how many men of organized religious organizations have been accused and convicted of sex crimes against children and young adults.

The bikers shield the families of dead soldiers from the protesters, and overshadow the jeers with patriotic chants and a sea of red, white and blue flags.

“The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares,” said Don Woodrick, the group's Kentucky captain. “When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement.”

At least 14 states are considering laws aimed at the funeral protesters, who at a recent memorial service at Fort Campbell wrapped themselves in upside-down U.S. flags. They danced and sang impromptu songs peppered with vulgarities that condemned homosexuals and soldiers.

The Patriot Guard was also there, waving up a ruckus of support for the families across the street. Community members came in the freezing rain to chant “U-S-A, U-S-A” alongside them.

“This is just the right thing to do. This is something America didn't do in the '70s,” said Kurt Mayer, the group's national spokesman. “Whether we agree with why we're over there, these soldiers are dying to protect our freedoms.”

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of Fred Phelps and a lawyer for his church in Topeka, Kan., said neither state laws nor the Patriot Guard can silence their message that God killed the soldiers because they fought for a country that embraces homosexuals.

During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, and they have long been tracked as a hate group by the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project.

The project's deputy director, Heidi Beirich, said that other groups have tried to counter the Phelps message but that none has been as organized as the Patriot Guard.

“I'm not sure anybody has gone to this length to stand in solidarity,” she said. “It's nice that these veterans and their supporters are trying to do something. I can't imagine anything worse, your loved one is killed in Iraq and you've got to deal with Fred Phelps.”

Kentucky, home to sprawling Fort Campbell along the Tennessee line, was among the first states to attempt to deal with Mr. Phelps legislatively. Its House and Senate have each passed bills that would limit people from protesting within 300 feet (about 100 metre) of a funeral or memorial service. The Senate version would also keep protesters from being within earshot of grieving friends and family members.

Richard Wilbur, a retired police detective, said his Indiana Patriot Guard group comes to funerals only if invited by family. He said he has no problem with protests against the war but sees no place for objectors at a family's final goodbye to a soldier.

“No one deserves this,” he said.

HELENA, Mont. -- A Kansas church group that abhors homosexuals and claims "God's hatred is one of His holy attributes" is planning a religious protest in Helena next month, targeting several area churches, the Montana Supreme Court, and the University of Montana.

The Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kan., gave notice in a fax Monday of its intention to picket Helena's "pro-gay" churches, as well as the "fag-infested" University of Montana.

"We need to be sure the people of Helena call to mind that there is a God, a standard, and a day of judgment, and it's not OK to be gay," Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Church, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

The six Helena churches targeted by the group are the Calvary Baptist, St. Helena's Cathedral, St. Peter's Episcopal, St. Paul's United Methodist, Our Redeemer's Lutheran, and First Presbyterian.

"You can put this mess right at their doorstep," Phelps-Roper said of the six churches. "They've carried the big lie that God loves everyone. Does he love those people that have been burning in Hell since the flood? These churches have enabled the sin that plagues this generation."

The group called its arrival in Helena a "religious protest and warning" that was initiated by a Montana Supreme Court ruling, which found that gay and lesbian partners of the Montana university system have the same right to health insurance benefits as their heterosexual partners.

The group's fax included a picture of the Montana Supreme Court, along with a reference to that court as the "People's Republic of Sodom."

Travis McAdam, research director at the Montana Human Rights Network in Helena, said the Westboro Church is led by Fred Phelps, the father of Phelps-Roper -- one of his 13 children.

Many of the church's congregants, which Phelps-Roper placed at 100, are related to Phelps by blood, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Phelps, along with his family, has made a career protesting gay and lesbian issues around the country, including the funeral of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard. The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified the church as a hate group.

"Communities have resoundingly rejected these people," McAdam said. "They're generally treated with scorn by the mainstream, and they're not able to generate much sympathy and support locally. They're really the nastiest of the anti-gay groups that are out there."

St. Paul's United Methodist Church, one of six churches targeted by the group in Helena, said it will stand by its Doctrine of Social Principles despite the group's attack.

The Westboro Church has gained the attention of equal rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League. The church's protest signs often bear such statements as "Fags Die" and "Hell is real: Ask Matt" -- a referring to the death of Shepard.

The ADL said the group's fliers, such as that received Monday, typically emphasizes the race or religion of those it believes are gay. This, according to the ADL, suggests that the church's hate goes beyond it's abhorrence for homosexuals.

"What appears to be anti-gay rhetoric is often a vehicle for the church's anti-Semitism, hatred of other Christians, and even racism," the ADL said.

They believe that "God's hatred is one of His holy attributes." They are the congregants of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.

Incorporated in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization, the virulently homophobic Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) considers itself an "Old School (or, Primitive)" Baptist Church. The Church is led by the septuagenarian Reverend Fred Waldron Phelps Sr., and many WBC congregants are related to Phelps by blood. His wife, several of his children and dozens of his grandchildren frequent the church.

While WBC has picketed the gay community at hundreds of events nationwide, most of the individuals protested by the Church are not homosexual. In fact, WBC most often targets people it mistakenly claims are gay or those it believes to be encouraging homosexuality. Many WBC fliers emphasize the race or religion of these individuals, suggesting that the Church's hate spreads beyond its abhorrence of homosexuality. What appears to be anti-gay rhetoric is often a vehicle for WBC's anti-Semitism, hatred of other Christians, and even racism, though in the 1980s Fred Phelps received awards from the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Blacks in Government and the Bonner Springs branch of the NAACP for his work on behalf of Black clients.

Trained as a lawyer, Fred Phelps was disbarred in 1979 by the Kansas Supreme Court, which asserted that he had "little regard for the ethics of his profession." The formal complaint against Phelps charged that he misrepresented the truth in a motion for a new trial in a case he had brought, and that he held the defendant in the case up to "unnecessary public ridicule for which there is no basis in fact." Following his disbarment from Kansas State courts, Phelps continued to practice law in Federal courts. In 1985, nine Federal court judges filed a disciplinary complaint charging him and six of his family members, all attorneys, with making false accusations against them. The Phelpses fought the complaint but lost. In 1989, Fred Phelps agreed to surrender his license to practice law in Federal court in exchange for the Federal judges allowing the other members of his family to continue practicing in Federal court.

In 1991, WBC staged its first public demonstration, targeting a park in Topeka allegedly frequented by gays. Thousands of protests have followed, and WBC shows no sign of slowing down. In addition to speeches on the picket lines, the Church spreads its hateful message via faxed fliers and "News Releases." These faxed documents also appear at WBC's notorious Web site, Godhatesfags.com, along with photos of Church pickets and a schedule of upcoming demonstrations. A second WBC Web site, Godhatesamerica.com, contends that the United States is "doomed" because it supports gays. According to Fred Phelps, "God invented the Internet for us to preach on."

video of Shirley unable to asnwer questions about her sins

• Samuel Phelps-Roper (born c. 1979), son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper, and Jennifer Hockenbarger (born c. 1977), wife of Samuel Phelps-Roper (since 2002)
  (see Hockenbarger clan discussion below)
• Joshua F. Phelps-Roper, daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.
• Margy "Megan" Phelps-Roper (reported age 13 as of November 1999), daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.
• Rebekah Phelps-Roper, daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.
• Isaiah Phelps-Roper, son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper.