Topic: Shirley Phelps

Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper (born October 31, 1957) is a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, an independent church and monitored hate group in the United States. She has received media coverage on BBC, Fox News, The Howard Stern Show, The Jeremy Kyle Show, The Ron and Fez Show, The Adam Carolla Show in addition to numerous appearances on podcasts including Perrynoid's Cosmic Circus, Nobody Likes Onions, Acorns & Merlot and Political Inversion for her group's aggressive preaching and controversial campaigns such as the picketing the funerals of AIDS victims with signs such as "God hates fags" and funeral processions for American soldiers killed in combat.

Phelps-Roper received both a B.A. in Criminal Justice and J.D. degree from Washburn University, and currently practices with Phelps Chartered, the Phelps family's law firm. She is the wife of Brent D. Roper and a mother of 11 children. Her oldest child, Sam, is not Roper's son by birth, and her second child, Josh, is estranged from the church. Besides her father Fred, she has been the most public spokesperson of the Westboro Baptist Church and answers many of the e-mails sent to the church in a column called "Dear Shirley." Keith Allen revealed in his documentary on the WBC, Keith Allen Will Burn In Hell, that Phelps-Roper has an illegitimate son, Sam, after it was uncovered by a local media student. She is currently on the list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom for "fostering extremism or hatred".

She has received increased media coverage following numerous television appearances, many of which have been on Fox News Channel, including interviews on Hannity & Colmes, and with Julie Banderas. She has appeared on The Tyra Banks Show with two of her daughters, Megan Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Roper.