Anti-gay church instructed to pay damages A jury has ordered an anti-gay Kansas church to pay US$10.9
million in compensation to relatives of a U.S marine, after church members cheered his death at his funeral.
The Maryland jury found the Westboro Baptist Church based in Topeka, and three of its principals, had invaded the privacy of the dead man''s family and inflicted emotional distress when they protested at his funeral last year.
Marine Lance-Corporal Matthew Snyder died in combat in Iraq in March 2006, after which Westboro church members claimed his death was God''s punishment against America for tolerating
homosexuality.
Lance-Cpl Snyder''s father testified that his son was not homosexual, but the church targeted the
military as a symbol of America''s tolerance of gays.
The case was the first civil suit against the church, which has demonstrated at some 300 military funerals in the past two years.
The church is run by Reverend Fred Phelps, who has waged a war against homosexuality for years.