Lavin Exclusive Speaker
Megan Phelps-Roper grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church: a group infamous for its intolerance. But encounters on Twitter showed her another life was possible—and in 2012, she escaped her home, family, and faith. Now, with a popular TED Talk, a major New Yorker profile, and an upcoming memoir, she is a unique example of how empathy can overcome hate, and how tolerance can bridge ideology.
Megan Phelps-Roper was raised within the virulently intolerant religious group The Westboro Baptist Church: known for picketing against the LGBT community, funeral services for soldiers, and nearly every other religious faith. By 2009, she was running the church’s Twitter account (as granddaughter of Fred Phelps, church founder, and daughter of Shirley Phelps-Roper, former church spokesperson, Megan played a central role in spreading its signature brand of hateful rhetoric to a global audience). However, after interacting with calm, civil, and genuinely empathetic individuals online—including one user who would eventually become her husband—Phelps-Roper began to question the dogmatic assertions of her faith and its celebrations of human tragedy. In 2012, she and her sister made the incredibly brave (and rare) decision to abandon their cloistered way of life, leave their family and home, and renounce the teachings of the church.
Since then, Phelps-Roper has championed the power of empathetic dialogue to change minds and connect with those we may disagree with. In her TED Talk—now with over three million views—she shares how understanding and compassion can transform lives, even across the widest of ideological gulfs. Her inspiring, moving, and deeply human story of change is also the subject of an upcoming memoir, called This Above All, to be released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This is in turn set to be transformed into a major feature film—directed by Marc Webb, scripted by Nick Hornby, and produced by Reese Witherspoon. As a keynote speaker and educator, she engages with schools, faith groups, law enforcement, and anti-extremism organizations on strengthening human bonds through better public discourse. She has been covered, most significantly, by The New Yorker, The Guardian, VICE, The Globe and Mail, and other international publications.