DES MOINES — At about 9 a.m., in a parking lot near the state Capitol building, Rev. Fred Phelps lit an Iowa state flag on fire to protest recently announced state-sponsored gay scholarships.

After struggling in the wind to get the lighter to produce a flame, the flag caught fire, effectively “burning fag lust,” Phelps said.

“That’s the way that flag ought to look,” said Phelps, the man who runs a Web site called www.godhatesfags.com.

About that time, state Rep. Ed Fallon, D-Des Moines, a counterprotester wearing a yellow ribbon, was heading to his car after leaving an anti-Phelps rally inside the building. Before he got to his car, Fallon and Phelps exchanged words.

“You are encouraging young people to commit vile sins,” Phelps said.

“Thank you for coming to Iowa,” Fallon retorted. “It makes us look good.”

“You think you can change God Almighty?” Phelps shouted. “What’s the matter with that fool governor of yours? We burned your flag. That’s a symbol of you.”

This was the scene Monday morning in Des Moines, where Phelps and a group of 14 people protesting Iowa’s scholarships for gay high school students were met by a group more than five times their size counterprotesting their rally.

The protest was organized by Phelps, a pastor from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. Phelps has led many anti-gay protests across the nation, including one in Ames two years ago.

The protesters held signs saying “Fags Doom Iowa” and “Judy [Shepard] Sent Matt to Hell,” while just down the sidewalk the counterprotesters held signs stating “God Hates Hate” and “Take Your Hate and Leave.”

Six children were among the Phelps group, including a young girl dressed in a pink coat with a furry hood. She held a sign saying, “UR Going to Hell.”

Shirley Phelps-Roper, member of the church and daughter of Fred Phelps, said three of her 10 children joined her at the protest.

“Someone in this state thinks it’s a good idea to engage high school students not just in sex, but in fag sex,” she said. “It’s my job to bring up my children the way they should be.”

Phelps-Roper said she often brings her children with her to protests across the country.

“The Bible says when you serve the Lord, you do it with your sons and daughters,” she said.

Fallon said he couldn’t believe the Phelps group had children with them.

“This is incredible that they’re teaching their children hate,” he said. “They should be in school. Really, they should be in foster care.”

Paulette Phelps, daughter-in-law of Fred Phelps, was holding a sign that read “No Special Laws for Fags.” She said she does not believe giving scholarships to gay students is right.

“Why don’t virgins get scholarships?” she asked. “If we’re going to base it on what sex you have or don’t have, why not give it to virgins?”

When the protesting started at 7:30 a.m., a group of counterprotesters had gathered a distance away from the protesters. Before 8 a.m., they were moving up to the sidewalk, closer to Phelps’ protesters, holding an Iowa flag and a rainbow-colored flag adorned with American flag-style stars.

“I will not stand for what [Rev. Phelps] is saying, what he is saying to Gov. Vilsack,” said Dan Bragg, member of Metropolitan Community Church, a gay church in Des Moines. “Iowa is a better state than to have this guy in our state.”

Tonya Wolf, a Des Moines citizen supporting the counterprotesters, walked through the group of anti-gay protesters and shouted at them.

“Karma’s gonna get them for bringing their children out here, for brainwashing their children,” Wolf said.

The anti-Phelps rally, sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, had several speakers, including religious leaders and high school students.

The group stood in a circle around the rotunda in the Capitol, holding signs that read “The Word Love Has No Religion” and “God Loves Everyone.”

Rev. Sarai Beck, Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa, said Christians share with each other a choice between love and hate. “Hateful language already is violence,” she said.

Rabbi Neil Sandler, Tifereth Israel Synagogue, said he thanks God for the freedom of speech, even hateful speech, because it is that freedom that allowed both the protesters and the counterprotesters to be there.

“An attack against a particular group of people is really an attack against all of us,” he said.

Phelps-Roper said she was undeterred by the counterprotest, saying despite their larger numbers, her detractors could not change God’s will.

While standing on top of a rainbow-colored flag, Rev. Phelps said the group was in Des Moines to “preach a little Gospel.”

“Where the hell are the gospel preachers in Iowa?” he asked. “This state used to fear God a little.”

Phelps said scholarships should go to “chaste kids who fear God, not these filthy little fags.”