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World & Nation

Westboro Baptist Church defector

Westboro Baptist Church members protest at the funeral in Wichita, Kan., for George Tiller, a doctor who provided abortions, after he was killed by an antiabortion activist in 2009. In 2011, after the family of a slain soldier sued church leaders over a protest at a funeral, the Supreme Court ruled the action was protected by free-speech rights under the 1st Amendment.

Westboro Baptist Church members protest at the funeral in Wichita, Kan., for George Tiller, a doctor who provided abortions, after he was killed by an antiabortion activist in 2009. In 2011, after the family of a slain soldier sued church leaders over a protest at a funeral, the Supreme Court ruled the action was protected by free-speech rights under the 1st Amendment.  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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At age 25, Libby Phelps decided she couldn’t take any more and fled her family’s Westboro Baptist Church -- notorious for its strident anti-gay picketing at funerals for American troops. She says she didn’t know what gay meant when, at a young age, she started taking part in the demonstrations. Now her parents have all but disowned her. She’s married and moving on with her life but still struggling to come to grips with a wrenching past. Read “Defector from anti-gay church struggles with her past”

Family affair

Libby Phelps’ parents, Margie, left, and Fred, center, protest in Baltimore in 2007. Libby says she misses her parents but has not had contact with them. After she fled, she received an email from a church member saying her parents wanted no further communication with her.  (Jed Kirschbaum / Baltimore Sun)

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