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TOPEKA, Kan., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A national U.S. motorcycle group has begun sending its members to military funerals being picketed by a publicity-hungry evangelical anti-gay group.
The move came in response to a group led by Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan., which travels to military funerals bearing banners and placards saying "God hates fags" and "America is doomed," USA Today reports.
The group's quest for media coverage by disrupting funerals and other events led to the formation of the Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of 53,000 motorcycle riders that includes many veterans.
Member Cliff Leach, a Vietnam veteran from Elkhorn, Neb., has attended 13 funerals on his bike keeping the Phelps contingent at bay and vowed to continue.
"This is the worst time in those families' lives and I want to do anything I can to make it easier," he told USA Today.
Phelps, 76, is a former civil rights lawyer who founded his church in the 1950s. It has about 70 members, many from his family of 13 children, who all pay their own travel and lodging expenses, his daughter told the newspaper.
Phelps' group has picketed at 15 funerals in 13 states since Aug. 1, the report said.
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