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Hate Church Plans to Picket Ledger Funeral

Baptist extremists will bash late actor for 'Brokeback' role

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 24, 2008 9:53 AM CST

(Newser) – A homophobic Kansas church known for protesting at the funerals of dead soldiers has announced plans to picket Heath Ledger's funeral because he played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain, MSNBC reports. "He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it's OK to be gay,” said a statement from the Westboro Baptist Church.

The statement from the widely reviled church, classed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, went on to say that the actor was "now in hell." “Wow, that should make his family feel great,” one person close to Ledger snapped. “I seriously don’t understand what is wrong with people."

Heath Ledger, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal, right, star in Focus Features and River Road Entertainments' Brokeback Mountain.
Heath Ledger, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal, right, star in Focus Features and River Road Entertainments' "Brokeback Mountain."   (KRT Photos)
The Rev. Fred Phelps prepares to protest outside the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., in this Feb. 1, 2006, file photo. A new law restricting protests at funerals kicks into effect Sunday, July 1, 2007, but is not enforceable until it is declared constitutional by the Kansas Supreme Court. The...
The Rev. Fred Phelps prepares to protest outside the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., in this Feb. 1, 2006, file photo. A new law restricting protests at funerals kicks into effect Sunday, July 1, 2007,...   (Associated Press)
This file photo from March 2, 2006, shows Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., protesting in front of the Pennsylvania Statehouse.  (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower)
This file photo from March 2, 2006, shows Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., protesting in front of the Pennsylvania Statehouse. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower)   (Associated Press)
The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for picketing the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq. They have announce plans to protest at any memorial service in the US for late actor Heath Ledger, who played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain.
The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for picketing the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq. They have announce plans to protest at any memorial service in the US for late actor Heath Ledger, who...   (KRT Photos)
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