In a shocking move, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether constitutional free-speech rights protected anti-gay protests by members of a Kansas church at funerals for U.S. military members killed in Iraq.

Church members routinely demonstrate at the funerals of people with AIDS and most recently at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.  As a result, the Westboro Baptist Church was order to pay $11 million dollars in 2007, and $5 million in a separate lawsuit from families who sued for mental anguish and invasion of privacy as a result of the protests.

The Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas owns, maintains, or is linked to godhatesfags.com, godhatesamerica.com, and godhatescanada.com.  The group maintains that God hates homosexuals above all other kinds of “sinners” and that homosexuality should be a capital crime.

NOTE: It is against the policy of United We Stand – Kentucky’s LGBTI News™ to link to these sites; doing so increases their search engine rankings.

In 2006, the Westboro Baptist Church was to visit Berea, KY to protest the funeral of Private First Class Theodore M. West of Kentucky.  The funeral service was held at the Berea Baptist Church.  Kentucky Equality Federation responded by working with other groups to hold a rally in support of Private First Class Theodore M. West’s service to the Commonwealth and the United States.  (previous story)

In 2007, the Kentucky Legislature passed a law to protect Kentuckians from the Westboro Baptist Church (“the Phelps clan”) during funerals; the ACLU however did not agree with the legislation, sued the Commonwealth, and ultimately the law was considered unconstitutional. (previous story)

In 2008, the IRS and the State of Kansas threatened to pull their tax-exempt status because “the church expresses the idea that nearly every tragedy in the world is linked to homosexuality – specifically society’s increasing tolerance and acceptance of the “Homosexual Agenda.”

This time however, the ACLU will have no recourse should the U.S. Supreme Court rule the protests are not covered under the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The high court agreed to consider whether the protesters’ message and picketing was protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, even though it was a private family funeral.

In appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Snyder’s attorneys argue that a person attending a family member’s private funeral is entitled to state protection from unwanted communication, such as remarks or displays by picketers.  Attorneys for Phelps and the church said the appeal should be rejected.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments and then decide the case during its upcoming term that begins in October 2010.