From Reuters:LONDON - An anti-gay U.S. Christian preacher and his daughter have been barred from entering Britain as they could spread “extremism and hatred,” the British government said Thursday.
The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, had been due in Britain to protest at a play about the murder of a gay man.
But British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she had decided to prevent Phelps and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper from entering the country.
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One Comment
I think Phelps is a pathetic bigot. But I’m also a part of this movement because I believe in freedom and tolerance, and those values have to be extended even to those I disagree with. Britain already has hate speech laws that prevent people from saying things which incite violence against others on the basis of sexual orientation, so if Phelps were to cross the line of free speech and encourage violence, he could be prosecuted. Isn’t that enough? This decision is arbitrary, it sets a troublesome precedent, and it’s only serving to give Phelps and friends more media attention.