The ACLU and Unpopular Causes: Defending Anti-Gay Protestors

Next time some indignant type on the far right stands in your face, likely spitting as they talk, to tell you that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) only stands for bizarro left-wing causes, only defends the rights of "pinkos and communists" and those who hate America (although hating America certainly fits with the Rev. Fred Phelps and Company), remind them of this story:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Kansas church group that protests at military funerals nationwide filed suit in federal court, saying a Missouri law banning such picketing infringes on religious freedom and free speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., on behalf of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church, which has outraged mourning communities by picketing service members' funerals with signs condemning homosexuality.

The church and the Rev. Fred Phelps say God is allowing troops, coal miners and others to be killed because the United States tolerates gay men and lesbians.

Missouri lawmakers were spurred to action after members of the church protested in St. Joseph, Mo., last August at the funeral of Army Spec. Edward L. Myers.

The law bans picketing and protests "in front of or about" any location where a funeral is held, from an hour before it begins until an hour after it ends. Offenders can face fines and jail time.

A number of other state laws and a federal law, signed in May by President Bush, bar such protests within a certain distance of a cemetery or funeral.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU says the Missouri law tries to limit protesters' free speech based on the content of their message. It is asking the court to declare the ban unconstitutional and to issue an injunction to keep it from being enforced, which would allow the group to resume picketing.

I won't pretend I'm not saddened or shocked by this move. I often agree with the ACLU but this one gives me pause.

However, unlike the "mighty righties", I recognize that the ACLU stands for everyone's civil liberties, and not just the rights of any one group or philosophy. I'll agree to disagree with them on this representation because I know that, by and large, the ACLU does very good and much-needed work.