I think I came across this story years before but it was just brought back to my attention, and I find it to be a fascinating account.

Nate Phelps is the son of the infamous anti-gay Baptist Pastor, Fred, the man who thinks God hates, well, pretty much everything that’s homosexual or remotely tolerant of gays, from various countries to Fred Rogers.  My only personal experience with the Phelps clan was kind of lighthearted, but I remember looking at the kids they had with them, wondering what it’s like to grow up under such a patriarch.

Well, it seems some apples can roll a good distance from their tree.

Nate gives his account on his web site here.  Another, more detailed account was given in a speech, here.  It’s an interesting story, if you’ve got the time.  At least for me, it puts the gay community’s bogyman into perspective and reveals the motivations and humanity, however tragic, of the children that now follow in their father’s path.