Oh, sure. Let some crazy old man and his inbred church protest the funeral of a gay boy who was crucified on a fence in Wyoming, and the government doesn't pay any attention.
Let the same crazy old man protest the funeral of a soldier who died in Iraq and Congress passes legislation specifically against it.
The measure, passed by voice vote in the House Wednesday hours after the Senate passed an amended version, specifically targets a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country, claiming that the deaths were a sign of God's anger at U.S. tolerance of homosexuals.
I'm all for anything that removes the "God Hates Fags" fruitcakes from Kansas but I do find it a little interesting that no one cared enough to do anything until now.
CNN Article: Congress passes funeral protest ban
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Very annoyed… especially since the title of the article is misleading. It's not a "funeral protest ban" but a "military funeral protest ban." Nothing at all about civilian funerals.
Ironically, I've heard that the ACLU is challenging the ban, though I don't know the details.
Funerals are somber occasions to mourn the passing of a loved one, reflect and even celebrate their life, and begin the healing process for the living. I don't think a "protest" of any kind has a place there.
Nevertheless, when it comes time to celebrate the passing of the nut case in Kansas, I wouldn't be a bit surprise to see every drag queen/king, bear, twink, TV, TS, et. al., descend on Westboro just to make sure he's dead – and to have a big ol' block party. You get more than one gay guy within a 10' radius and there's gonna be dancin'.
I think the ACLU is protesting on the basis that it is free speech. That's what would make sense to me. And that is a good thing. Even the wingnuts have to be allowed to have free speech.
If our almighty government can block protests at this kind of event, what's next? I think that's probably the ACLU's angle.
It's like that play we saw once where an imaginary Rush Limbaugh got put in prison for breaking some conservative anti-government law that he helped to put through congress by merely contradicting an FBI agent.