You know, I've sometimes wondered if this might not actually be the case. I wonder if Phelps and his "church" aren't really just a put-on by the gays, the atheists, or some other group that hates Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians while simultaneously not having a clue as to what Evangelicals and Fundamentalists actually think or how they would act. The whole Westboro "Baptist Church" shenanigans have a suspicious smell of "atheists trying to pass themselves off as Christians" and failing miserably because they actually believe their own ridiculous caricatures.
His antics gain sympathy for queers and hatred for Christians.