WBC later picketed productions of The Laramie Project, a play based on Shepard's murder. The group came into the national spotlight in 1998, when it was featured on CNN for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man from Laramie, Wyoming who was beaten to death by two men, allegedly because of his homosexuality. Picketing in Topeka, with the group's signature multi-colored picket signs.
Through keeping the protests non-violent and acquiring the proper permits, WBC avoids legal trouble. While the messages are widely condemned, the organization always ensures its protests are legal in nature. As well as protesting these high-profile events, WBC protests many local low-profile events, such as Kansas City Chiefs football games and live pop concerts.
The group has protested a number of high-profile events such as the funerals of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the West Nickel Mines School shooting. It is the protesting of military funerals that led to the organization receiving much attention for its small size. It also pickets other events related or peripherally related to homosexuality. Westboro Baptist Church carries out daily picketing in Topeka, Kansas and travels nationally to picket the funerals of gay victims of murder or gay-bashing, as well as those of people who have died from complications related to AIDS. WBC member protesting Pope Benedict XVI outside the United Nations in New York City (2008).