Former Westboro Baptist Church member poses for NOH8 campaign
Sun. June 22, 2014 12:21 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Libby Phelps: ‘The message is simple: No hate. We want people to be happy, healthy and hopeful.’
Los Angeles, CA -
Libby Phelps-Alvarez, the granddaughter of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps, has posed for the NOH8 campaign with her family and friends as part of Pride month.
Lauren Drain, another former member, also posed for the NOH8 campaign last year, but Libby Phelps is the first member of the Phelps family to have done so.
Phelps posted the photo, which has her posing with her baby son Paxton and campaigners from Equality House, on Twitter with the statement, "The message is simple: No hate. We want people to be happy, healthy and hopeful."
She left the notoriously anti-gay church in 2009. Phelps' sisters Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper followed in 2013 and have joined other ex-members in condemning the organization. The string of defections, along with the death of founder Fred Phelps earlier this year, have caused the family church to crumble.
Following the death of his grandfather, Zach Phelps-Roper split from the church and condemned it as a "mind trap." He recently claimed Fred Phelps had recanted his anti-gay views before his death, which lead to his excommunication from the church he founded in 1955.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights nonprofit group, has described Westboro Baptist Church as a cult and hate group.
The NOH8 Campaign is a charitable organization that promotes "marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest." Its most visible work is the NOH8 portraits series by Adam Bouska, created after the passing of Proposition 8 in California. In the five years since, NOH8 has shot over 33,000 people, including hundreds of celebrities.
Lauren Drain, another former member, also posed for the NOH8 campaign last year, but Libby Phelps is the first member of the Phelps family to have done so.
Phelps posted the photo, which has her posing with her baby son Paxton and campaigners from Equality House, on Twitter with the statement, "The message is simple: No hate. We want people to be happy, healthy and hopeful."
She left the notoriously anti-gay church in 2009. Phelps' sisters Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper followed in 2013 and have joined other ex-members in condemning the organization. The string of defections, along with the death of founder Fred Phelps earlier this year, have caused the family church to crumble.
Following the death of his grandfather, Zach Phelps-Roper split from the church and condemned it as a "mind trap." He recently claimed Fred Phelps had recanted his anti-gay views before his death, which lead to his excommunication from the church he founded in 1955.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights nonprofit group, has described Westboro Baptist Church as a cult and hate group.
The NOH8 Campaign is a charitable organization that promotes "marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest." Its most visible work is the NOH8 portraits series by Adam Bouska, created after the passing of Proposition 8 in California. In the five years since, NOH8 has shot over 33,000 people, including hundreds of celebrities.