A former Westboro Baptist Church member believes that the controversial group’s hatred for homosexuality finds it origins in the fact that its founder, Fred Phelps, is himself a homosexual. What a twist!
A possible example of the psychological phenomenon of transference, former Westboro Baptist Church member Lauren Drain theorizes that the organization’s founder hates homosexuality so much because he hasn’t come to grips with his own latent homosexuality.
“I never understood why, when [the media asked him], ‘Why are you so against the homosexuals? Did you have a homosexual experience? Do you have homosexual tendencies?’ And he would get so mad, he would shut down. And he’d be like, ‘I can’t talk to this person anymore, they’re stupid.’ His reaction to that was stronger than any other question you can ask him,” 27-year-old Drain told the Advocate .
Drain was a member of the Topeka, Kansas congregation but left after she began to question the group’s beliefs. Phelps was a Boy Scout who graduated with honors and was intending to go into the military at first. Then, he abruptly changed his mind at age 17 and became fixated on becoming a preacher and fighting against “sexual immorality.”
“So I always wondered that — why does he get so mad? If I’m not gay, I’ll just say I’m not gay. And I’m not going to freak out, like, ‘Why are you calling me gay?’ I always thought that was super strange,” Drain wondered.
“I don’t know what happened there, so [speculation] is all that I can leave it at. But something happened, and something made him change his mind about the military, and in turn have kind of a crusade against sexual immorality and homosexuals.”
Drain has become an anti-bullying activist and an advocate for gay rights since leaving Westboro Baptist Church . She wrote a memoir, titled Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church , which was released on March 5.
“I don’t think anyone should judge or persecute another human being or any group of individuals based off of those personal, chosen, beliefs,” she told NOH8, posing for the equality movement in February .
“I am against any and all forms of violence, discrimination, bullying or bigotry directed at someone else due to their personal lifestyle.”
Do you think that Westboro Baptist founder Fred Phelps might be gay?
