The state of Kansas has a long history of tolerance

The state of Kansas has a long history of tolerance for bug-eyed radicals. The abolitionist John Brown, for example, is celebrated in a huge mural on the
statehouse wall, his face stern, long hair waving behind him like a flag. Carry Nation began her saloon-slamming temperance crusade here. The staying power
of Fred Phelps's anti-gay crusade, however, has confounded some observers.
"A lot of people used to say if we just ignore them they'll go away," Hamilton says. "The trouble is that they haven't. They've sort of developed this
attitude they can do whatever they please to whomever they please."
Which raises the question: Do most of the residents of Topeka agree with Fred Phelps, or at least his message?Phelps would like to think so -- he and his
children are constantly recounting stories of citizens who walk by the picket lines flashing thumbs up. The day Hamilton confiscated their fax machines,
Phelps says, the church received three offers of donated fax time to get the daily messages out.
And the fact is, without buying or renting new machines,Phelps did get thousands of faxes out by day's end.
Only very recently, in September, has there been any effort to come to the aid of the beleaguered churches. A group of business leaders created Concerned
Citizens for Topeka, a nonprofit volunteer organization whose declared mission is to fight prejudice. Two dozen defense attorneys have donated their time to
defend witnesses who have testified against the Phelps family and have been subsequently sued.
Soon afterward, Phelps wrote a letter to union representatives for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which had been considering moving 600 clerical jobs
to Topeka. Phelps warned them away from the town, which he called "the homosexual Mecca of the world."
With that threat to the economy, the ranks of Concerned Citizens for Topeka swelled from 60 to 500 in a matter of weeks.
"As long as it's a gay issue, it doesn't matter," says Miller, the gay activist, somewhat bitterly. "But he crossed the line."
A Happy Little Kid 
The emergence of Fred Phelps has sent many people, including the local news media, scrambling into his past for clues to the roots of such virulent hatred.
They have come up empty.