CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
After Michael Moon reported to police that he was attacked outside a Des Moines gay bar and that he believed the perpetrator might have been influenced by the hate speech of Fred Phelps, a homophobic Kansas minister who traveled to Des Moines to stage antigay protests, Phelps and his church clan want to set the record straight. So they are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the attack, which occurred last month and resulted in Moon's leg being broken, the Des Moines Register reports. "A crime is a crime," said Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., who is also the church's attorney. "Two wrongs don't make a right." She said the reward offer shows that the church, whose members picketed a Des Moines high school commencement at which a gay student received top honors as well as a meeting of a Des Moines gay group a week before the alleged assault, does not condone violence. She also expressed doubt that the reported assault even occurred and wanted to squelch any suspicions that church members' presence in Des Moines influenced the assailant. Moon, 32, told police his attacker forced him to say he would seek God's forgiveness for being gay. He then said the presence of the Phelps clan in Des Moines may have gotten the attacker riled up, resulting in the assault at the gay bar.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Joe Biden sends queer lawmakers & LGBTQ+ allies to Paris Olympics
July 24 2024 12:08 PM
Kamala Harris rides wave of Democratic energy at kickoff event in Wisconsin
July 23 2024 3:36 PM
'Devastated:' A six-week abortion ban will go into effect in Iowa next week
July 23 2024 2:28 PM
Four hours, 44,000 Black women, and one Zoom call
July 23 2024 2:17 PM
Record 1.2 million people show out for Cologne’s Pride parade
July 23 2024 10:51 AM