{"id":18242,"date":"2015-04-28T14:27:06","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T18:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/"},"modified":"2015-04-28T14:27:06","modified_gmt":"2015-04-28T18:27:06","slug":"andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps<\/b>
\nWhat would you say to the Westboro Baptist Church if you had the chance to speak to one of its leaders?<\/p>\n

YouTube vlogger Andrew Demeter<\/a>, 17, recently had the opportunity to sit down with the Shirley Phelps and talk one-on-one about her beliefs surrounding the lesbian<\/a>, gay<\/a>, bisexual<\/a> and transgender (LGBT) community. Shirley Phelps is the daughter of the late Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church founder who passed away in March 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maintaining a calm demeanor throughout the entire interview, Demeter doesn’t shy away from an open dialogue about questions we all have about Westboro, even telling Phelps at one point, “Well Shirley, if you’re going to Heaven, I am more than happy to go to Hell.”<\/p>\n

The Huffington Post chatted with Demeter about his interview with Phelps this week.<\/p>\n

The Huffington Post: Why did you decide to interview Shirley?<\/strong>
\nAndrew Demeter: In the past few months, I’ve brainstormed a list of some 25 newsmakers and other influencers who I want to interview at some point in the near future. Having already interviewed diverse characters like Fran Drescher, John McAfee and Nancy Pelosi, among others, Shirley was simply next on the list. My goal for the interview was simple: to attempt to understand the “rationale” of a hate-monger. This, however, soon proved futile as I was seeking out logic and reason where it wasn’t meant to be found. Another motivation for interviewing Shirley was to uncover from where her hatred [stemmed].<\/p>\n

How did you get Shirley to agree to the interview?<\/strong>
\nSurprisingly, Shirley agreed to the interview with relative haste. I had contacted her via Twitter weeks beforehand to no avail, but after following up we scheduled a convenient date and time. I began surfing the web for additional research, binge-watching documentaries and other interviews, and immersing myself (from afar) into the Westboro Baptist Church’s culture.<\/p>\n

What do you want viewers to take away from your interview?<\/strong>
\nThe underlying message of this interview is the paradox that religion may incur violence. It is abysmal to justify hateful actions with mere words once inscribed on ancient tablets and parchment paper.<\/p>\n

At the end of the interview, Demeter tells Phelps that he “respects her on a human level” and would have given her a hug if they weren’t conducting the interview through Skype.<\/em><\/p>\n

Head here<\/a> to see more from Demeter, including interviews with Fran Drescher, John McAfee, and Nancy Pelosi.<\/em><\/p>\n

Parts of this interview have been modified and\/or condensed.<\/em> <\/p>\n

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms.<\/a> It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.<\/p>\n

www.huffingtonpost.com\/2015\/04\/28\/andrew-demeter-shirley-phelps_n_7161868.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps What would you say to the Westboro Baptist Church if you had the chance to speak to one of its leaders? YouTube vlogger Andrew Demeter, 17, recently had the opportunity to sit down with the Shirley Phelps and talk one-on-one about her beliefs surrounding the lesbian<\/a>, gay<\/a>, … Continue reading Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"yoast_head":"\nAndrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps What would you say to the Westboro Baptist Church if you had the chance to speak to one of its leaders? YouTube vlogger Andrew Demeter, 17, recently had the opportunity to sit down with the Shirley Phelps and talk one-on-one about her beliefs surrounding the lesbian, gay, … Continue reading Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-28T18:27:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\"},\"headline\":\"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-28T18:27:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"MISC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\",\"name\":\"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-28T18:27:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/\",\"name\":\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"description\":\"LGBT BLOG\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg\",\"width\":243,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/gayfriendschat\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\",\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GayFriendschat.com\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/author\/gayfriendschat-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","og_description":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps What would you say to the Westboro Baptist Church if you had the chance to speak to one of its leaders? YouTube vlogger Andrew Demeter, 17, recently had the opportunity to sit down with the Shirley Phelps and talk one-on-one about her beliefs surrounding the lesbian, gay, … Continue reading Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps →","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/","og_site_name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","article_published_time":"2015-04-28T18:27:06+00:00","author":"GayFriendschat.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_site":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GayFriendschat.com","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/"},"author":{"name":"GayFriendschat.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f"},"headline":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps","datePublished":"2015-04-28T18:27:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/"},"wordCount":480,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["MISC"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/","name":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-28T18:27:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/andrew-demeter-vlogger-interviews-westboro-baptists-shirley-phelps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Andrew Demeter, Vlogger, Interviews Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","description":"LGBT BLOG","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization","name":"GayFriendsChat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","width":243,"height":96,"caption":"GayFriendsChat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/gayfriendschat"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f","name":"GayFriendschat.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"GayFriendschat.com"},"url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/author\/gayfriendschat-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}