The Southern Poverty Law Center today updated its list of designated hate groups, and this year is significant in that some of the larger anti-gay outfits have made the cut. After a litany of ever more extreme statements from people such as Peter Sprigg and Tony Perkins of the FRC, Bryan Fischer of the AFA and Laurie Higgins of the IFI, the SPLC has determined, correctly in our view, that these groups all deserve to be designated as having gone beyond mere advocacy, and into full-blown hatred against the LGBT community. Especially after the recent spate of gay teen suicides elicited no remorse from any of these institutions, they have indeed earned their place in the halls of hate.
It is notable that Focus on the Family is not on the list. Though we at Truth Wins Out still stand in solid opposition to Focus’s mission, they have indeed made baby steps in the past year to moderate their message, which is in stark contrast with the growing extremism at FRC and AFA. Higgins and the IFI have always been awful, of course. These groups especially deserve recognition for their abject ignorance of facts and reality, choosing as they do to spread anti-gay propaganda at all costs, which indeed suggests that their “work” is inspired by little more than juvenile animus.
The list of anti-gay hate groups now includes the following:
1. Abiding Truth Ministries [Scott Lively]
2. American Family Association
3. Americans for Truth About Homosexuality [Peter LaBarbera]
4. American Vision
5. Chalcedon Foundation
6. Dove World Outreach Center [Terry Jones]
7. Faithful Word Baptist Church [Steven Anderson]
8. Family Research Council
9. Family Research Institute [Paul Cameron]
10. Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment
11. Illinois Family Institute
12. MassResistance
13. Traditional Values Coalition
Read more from the SPLC here.
Focus on the Family may have made ‘baby steps’ but aren’t they still a sister organization of FRC, or has that changed since Dobson left Focus?
They’re still very close and I would argue that their fundamental missions are similar, but the new leadership at Focus is, like I said, making tiny baby steps in something resembling the right direction. We don’t oppose them any less, but there is a line being drawn in the sand between those who are truly digging their heels in and becoming more extremist, like the AFA & FRC, who are basically Fred Phelps without the showmanship at this point, and Focus, who is pretty awful, but hasn’t shown the inclination to become MORE hateful in the past year.
I find this particularly sad. Reading through the list of the names these groups have taken for themselves you might be confused into thinking they were loving groups. I mean, who doesn’t support morals, values, truth, vision, outreach, and family etc? Clearly there is a massive gap in the definitions of these words.
Glad they are being called out for their hatred.
[...] Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a landmark report today adding new official Hate Groups to its well-respected list. The report concludes that the overall [...]
[...] Southern Poverty Law Center Adds Family Research Council & American Family Association To Anti-Gay Hate Groups List. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation’s leading watchdog of hate organizations, has added the Family Research Council and American Family Association to its list of anti-gay hate groups. Also making the list for the first time is the Illinois Family Association, the former home of Porno Pete LaBarbera, whose group also makes the list. Here’s the SPLC’s updated list, via Truth Wins Out. [...]
[...] a look at what our friends at Truth Wins Out have to say about this new [...]
well it seems that the SPLC is well on its way to
achieving Wayne and Evan’s cherished dream of having
every conservative group that doesn’t toe the line on
acceptance of homosexuality declared a hate group.
obviously, it’s just a matter of time until that
happens.
No, our goal is for people who are full of hatred to be called what they are. But thanks for playing.
bwanderson:
The evidence is overwhelming and compelling. I am sorry that facts are getting in the way of your ideology.
Hey, bwa, you obviously haven’t been reading very closely. Many conservatives are OK with gays – these aren’t ‘conservative groups’, they are radical rightwing haters! At a time when gay teens are being tormented to suicide because of their ranting and their (your?) hate, they show no signs of easing off or calling off their abject hatred for all things gay, even the kids. Now that’s HATE!
Next on the list should be the Heritage Foundation.
[...] about an alleged proliferation of anti-Latino, anti-Muslim and anti-black hate groups — today expanded its list of anti-gay hate groups to include both the American Family Association and the Family Research Council.Something [...]
Who cares what the ANTI-WHITE $PLC and Jewish Supremacist ADL say? USA is a sick, subverted nation.
The problem with America, John, are fools like you who make such idiotic statements and help elect people that bring down America.
Here is what subverts the nation:
Inequality in the United States has soared to levels comparable to those in Argentina six decades ago — with 1 percent controlling 24 percent of American income in 2007.
John, you can thank Republicans for this. And, I bet you are one of them.
I think there is mounting evidence that PFOX and Exodus International might be future hate groups. These organizations are certainly doing their best to provide a record to help make the decision easy.
I think that the argument can be made quite cogently that SPLC and TWO should be classified as groups that promote hatred against orthodox Christians — and should be, if you apply the same standards that SPLC and TWO apply to the organizations referenced above.
Rhymes with Right, where is your evidence? Where is your documentation to back your case?
For example, when has TWO ever argued for laws that would imprison orthodox Christians? When have we ever claimed they should be “exported”?
We haven’t, while the groups on the SPLC hate list have made such arguments against LGBT people.
So, you really ought to get your facts straight if you want to have a real debate.
RWR,
You made no cogent argument at all — you merely declared yourself to be cogent. Coward.
What standards are you referring to, and exactly how do SPLC or TWO violate them?
Unless you can answer those questions in detail, you qualify as an idle flamethrower — and such trolling is forbidden here.
I’m not very familiar with the groups listed, but I am quite familiar with the SPLC and how they mislead. In fact, lots of people are familiar with that and with their constant quest for money. Others who are wise to them include HarpersMag and the Montgomery paper.
More about them at my name’s link. Maybe it’s time for this site to wise up.
Well, buddy, I am very familiar with the groups listed. The SPLC knocked it out of the park. Based on this report, they really know what they are talking about and handled the topic with genuine expertise.
I’ll take a look at your link. But I’m already turned off by the way you have a problem with the fact they need money to pay their staff.
Don’t you need money to pay the bills? Or, did you inherit money and don’t need to work like the rest of us to make ends meet?
[...] week, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a landmark report on anti-gay defamation. The SPLC certified several new hate groups, including well-known [...]
Rhymes with Right is equating the fact that I often say people like she/he are f*****g morons with “hate.” At no point have I called for the imprisonment of said morons, though. Much to the contrary! I wish that they be provided helmets so that they may live their lives in comparative glee without having to deal with Hard Things like shoelaces, twisty ties, and signs at the amusement park specifying height requirements.
[...] crap: Via Truth Wins Out, we see that the Southern Poverty Law Center has released a piece profiling Of 18 anti-gay [...]
The more liberally the SPLC applies the “hate group” label, the less impact it will have. While I think that AFA and FRC are truly horrible organizations that harm gay people, it is ridiculous to lump them in with groups such as the KKK or the Aryan Nation.
If AFA and FRC constitute hate groups b/c they support sodomy laws and have stereotypical ideas about gays, it is hard to see how SPLC can avoid “designating” a whole bunch of other groups, along with about a quarter to a third of the US population.
It is already unclear why SPLC thinks it has any authority to make these designations. When they start applying them to non-violent public policy organizations that regularly host GOP Presidential candidates, it is a certainty that a lot of people will cease to care what SPLC has to say about anything.
A “hate group” should be one that uses or advocates violence or unlawful means. Since the designation is intended to place the group beyond the pale, it should be used rarely. Non-violent advocacy of public policies – however repugnant and discriminatory – should not be enough.
Steven, the KKK no longer advocates violence or uses unlawful means. They proclaim that they don’t hate black people they just think the races should be seperate. By your standards the KKK isn’t a hate group either.
Since the Bible states that alcohol excess is unwise and displeasing to God, I accept that to be the truth – drunkeness is sinful. But I do not hate alcoholics, and rather than help them define drunkeness to be a normal lifestyle, it seems better to help them stop drinking, realizing that the desire to drink may be with them all their lives.
Since the Bible states that homo-sex is unwise and displeasing to God (the same can be said for many forms of hetero-sex), I accept that to be the truth – homosexual acts are sinful. But I do not hate “gays,” and rather than help them to define homosexuality to be a normal lifestyle, it seems better to encourage them to stop acting on homosexual desires, realizing that such desires may be with them all their lives.
It is not always better to gratify every desire we may have, whether acquired or inherent.
MKS, you are wrong in SO many ways! The old compare homosexuality to alcoholism has long passed its shelf life. Time to get a better argument to explain why you hate gays. Yes, you DO hate gays. Only a hater would require gays to live lives of isolation devoid of love. Homosexuality does NOT mean a sex act that can somehow be curbed or avoided. Being gay involves every aspect of a person’s life & the fact that you are too much of a moron to realize that tells me that it is pointless to talk to you.
MKS said “It is not always better to gratify every desire we may have, whether acquired or inherent.”.
That does not mean that it is better to supress one’s gayness. What determines whether or not desires are best supressed is whether or not acting on those desires hurts others. Acting one one’s desires for a monogamous same sex relationship hurts no one and therefore is not something anyone should avoid. Your desire to destroy loving gay relationships would harm people if you acted on it therefore you best not gratify your desire to do so.
Only someone who hates gays (such as yourself) would seek to harm gays by ignoring the fact that every major mental and physical health association says that gayness is a normal healthy variant of human sexuality
MKS, can you make your argument cogent to an atheist, one who does not define their sexual morality by your scriptures?
btw, dragging out the ol’ “gay men get AIDS and STDs a LOT” won’t work for lesbians. They have the lowest transition rate for all STDs.
[...] Saying It. The Family Research Council and other groups who appear on CNN and other networks are hate groups. And Dan’s exactly right: there are NO “two sides” [...]
[...] that we at Truth Wins Out are, again, heartily applauding the Southern Poverty Law Center for their wise decision to include the Family Research Council and the American Family Association among their newly updated list of [...]
I’m curious: why is Maggie Gallagher’s notorious NOM on the SPLC’s list?
OOPS: Correction: Why is the NOM NOT on the list?
Not sure why NOM is not on the list. But think of it as a Christmas List where you get most of what you want, but not everything.
I’m thrilled with the gifts in this year’s SPLC stocking.
It appears to me that the SPLC has discredited themselves. At one time, the SPLC performed a great service to our society. These days, it is a great honor to be listed by the SPLC as a so called “hate group”. The SPLC is just nothing more than a bunch of left wing nut jobs listing everyone who does not see things their way. Why did they not list the NAACP? I have not once seen Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, two of the most racist men in America, listed in an SPLC list. Why is that? They look for hatred where there is no hatred, but can not clearly see the hatred that is staring them in the face. Why didn’t the SPLC list the radical gays who opposed Prop. 8 in California, even to the point of becoming violent and issuing death threats against pro-proposition 8 people? Where is La Raza on their list? Oh, thats right, La Raza did not make the list because they are a LEFT WING HATE GROUP. You have to be a Right Wing “hate group” in order to make the list.
I am wondering now why the SPLC did not list themselves as being a “hate organization”. Slinging accusations of hate all over the place is very foolish. Now if they decide to list a real hate group, who is going to believe them?
We are standing together to lobby Congress to defund this worthless organization. The SPLC has proven themselves totally useless. Therefore, it is not in our interest to allow our tax dollars to continue to fund them. Call your congressman and senator and ask them to help stamp out hate by defunding the SPLC!
We are also going to start a campaign asking bloggers to help expose the SPLC. Any help will be appreciated. If you are a blogger, or know any bloggers, give them a call, and tell them about the antics of the SPLC!
As said on one left wing website, these designations are made based on the SPLC’s “propagation of known falsehoods and repeated, groundless name-calling”. When people on the left start noticing stuff like this, the SPLC has pretty much outlived its usefulness.
The owners of this website should be disappointed and offended that “Truth Wins Out” did not make the SPLC list. LOL
The SPLC does not receive federal funding. G.S., you’re a colossal idiot.
http://www.splcenter.org/who-we-are/financial-information
It’s curious how none of the SPLC’s critics have detailed the criteria for hate-group status, nor explained why the FRC and AFA do not qualify under those criteria.
G.S. said “Why didn’t the SPLC list the radical gays who opposed Prop. 8 in California, even to the point of becoming violent and issuing death threats against pro-proposition 8 people?”.
Because there is no such group, those stories were all made up by right wing bigots.
@Michael Airhart: if the SPLC does not recieve federal funding, there is a major legal organization that is about to make a fool out of themselves. They plan to lobby Congress, as well as file lawsuits against the SPLC accusing the SPLC of defaming mainstream pro-family organizations.
Michael said “It’s curious how none of the SPLC’s critics have detailed the criteria for hate-group status”. What exactly is the criteria for being classified as a hate group under SPLC guidelines. That you be anti-illegal immigration, anti-gay marriage (notice I did not say anti-gay), or anti-muslim? It don’t matter how anti-Christian, anti-heterosexual, or anti-white you are, you don’t make the SPLC list(Honor Roll).
@ Priya Lynn: You said there is no such group. There may not be an organized group, but there was fear of the gays going on a rampage against anti-proposition 8 voters in California, as well as the Mormon church. If your memory is so short that you can not remember, go to California, and talk to somebody who is not a left wing bigot. All you have to do is go to you tube to see a video of an elderly lady being assaulted by a rampaging mob of homosexuals at an anti-proposition 8 rally in California.
The SPLC used to do good at one time, but now resorts to looking for boogymen under every rock and when it can’t find any, they create them. To be noticed by SPLC is a badge of honor. In other words, if you wish to involve yourself in an organization, check the SPLC list. If they did not make the SPLC list, they are no good.
GS, that’s a load of BS. There was no such fear, just a bunch of victimizers pretending to be victims. A*holes like you assault and murder gays and when they protest you outrageously claim to be a victim.
GS said “What exactly is the criteria for being classified as a hate group under SPLC guidelines. That you be anti-illegal immigration, anti-gay marriage (notice I did not say anti-gay), or anti-muslim?”.
You disingenous idiot, being anti-gay marriage is being anti-gay. You can’t be for denying gays equal rights without being anti-gay.
Generally the SPLC’s criteria for listings them as hate groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. As to what these falsehoods are, they include claims that:
Gays molest children at a higher rate than heterosexuals,
Same sex parents harm children,
Gays have a lifespan shorter than heterosexuals, and
Gays controlled the Nazi party in Germany and helped orchestrate the Holocaust.
GS said “All you have to do is go to you tube to see a video of an elderly lady being assaulted by a rampaging mob of homosexuals at an anti-proposition 8 rally in California.”.
Typical of the lies of a*holes like you. That lady had a styrofoam cross knocked out of her hand after she knocked over a disabled gay man, she most certainly wasn’t assaulted. And this one pathetic incident that you’ve exagerated beyond all recognition is what you rely on to perpetuate your lie that people “feared” gays going on a “rampage”. You’re so full of s**t I can smell it from here.
Priya Lynn said:”being anti-gay marriage is being anti-gay. You can’t be for denying gays equal rights without being anti-gay.” that is one of the biggest lies to ever be perpetrated by the homosexual movement. It ranks right up there with “I was born that way”. Denying gays the right to marry each other is not denying them equal rights. They have the right to marry if they turn their back on their chosen lifestyle and find a companion of the opposite sex. What gays are demanding now is special priveleges. What is coming next? Are pedophiles going to start marching in the streets demanding that we allow them to marry their victims? If they do, the SPLC will be right in there supporting the pedophiles.
“… your lie that people “feared” gays going on a “rampage”. ” If you have not had your head in the sand since before the Prop 8 ordeal started, you know full well that there were threats leveled at the anti prop 8 crowd, and also some property damage was sustained by the anti prop 8 people. For example, there were cars damaged because they had pro prop 8 bumper stickers, as well as pro prop 8 yard signs taken down and destroyed. You need to get your facts straight before you come on here spouting off about something you obviously know nothing about. My memory is not that short.
This is coming from Wikipedia: Before the vote, Alan Autry (the mayor of Fresno) received an email containing death threats against both himself and Cornerstone Church Pastor Jim Franklin. This caused police to assign the pastor officers for his protection and motivated the mayor to obtain a bodyguard. According to Fresno’s Police Chief Jerry Dyer the email “did state as to why that threat was made and it was stemming from prop 8.” Both Autry and Franklin were prominent Proposition 8 supporters.
In the ten days following the November 4 election, seven houses of worship in Utah and ten buildings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in the Sacremento area were targets of vandalism, such as graffiti and meeting house glass doors shattered. According to the LDS spokesperson for the Sacremento area, the vandalism that they experienced in the ten days after the election was more than they usually get in an entire year. A copy of the Book of Mormon, an LDS religious text, was found burning at the front of a meetinghouse.
An affiliate group of the radical trans/queer organization Bash Back! (Whoa, I thought you said there was no such group), claims credit for pouring glue into the locks of an LDS church and spray painting on its walls. A Web posting signed by Bash Back!’s Olympia chapter said: “The Mormon church (just like most churches) is a cesspool of filth. It is a breeding ground for oppression of all sorts and needs to be confronted, attacked, subverted and destroyed.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, the acts of vandalism against the LDS church appear to be in retaliation for support of Proposition 8.
The Anti-Defamation League released a statement condemning the “defacement and destruction of property.” (I have not heard of any such condemnation coming from the SPLC)
By Thomas Messner: Supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, at least one death threat, and gross expressions of anti-religious bigotry. Arguments for same-sex marriage are based fundamentally on the idea that limiting marriage to the union of husband and wife is a form of bigotry, irrational prejudice, and even hatred against homosexual persons. As this ideology seeps into the culture more generally, individuals and institutions that support marriage as the union of husband and wife risk paying a price for that belief in many legal, social, economic, and cultural contexts.
Don’t try to tell me these things did not happen, I have family living in California. The hatred and anti Christian bigotry coming from the pro gay movement in California has been widely ignored by the national media. Thankfully,not all the media covers for the gays. Now do some research, THEN you can come back and apologize for wrongfully accusing me of lying.
GS, you’re full of s**t. The right to marry doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t include the right to marry the person of your choice. You have the right to marry the person you love most and you seek to deny gays that same right. When gays get the right to a same sex marriage you will also have the right to a same sex marriage so don’t give me this “special rights” b******t, that’s just a lie, its not special rights to have the same rights you have. If you have the right to marry Alice, I as a woman deserve the exact same right to marry Alice. Anything less is denying me my humanity and equality. Only a despicable evil bigot would attempt to do such a thing. The shoe fits GS, wear it!
Just like the hate groups identified by the SPLC you try to equate being gay with being a pedophile, that is an attack intended to foster violence against gays.
Spare me your pathetic wining about a handful of isolated minor incidents with people writing grafitti on LDS churchs (Ohh, the horror! Gay people on a rampage! Run for your lives! Run for your lives!).
There’s no evidence that gay people carried out those acts in any event, but like the hate-monger you are you blame them with no proof whatsoever.
Bash Back, unlike your hate groups hasn’t spread lies about anti-gay bigots like you being behind the holocast or being pedophiles or being diseased perverts who should be put in jail. They are NOTHING like the hate groups you support.
Your attempts to deny gays the same right to marry the one they love that you have is most certainly bigotry, irrational prejudice, and hatred against gays. You live it, accept the reality of the hateful bigot you are. How dare you accuse gays of hatred and anti-christian bigotry?! Gays aren’t trying to deny you the right to marry, gays aren’t trying to have your relationships criminalized, gays aren’t trying to fire you from your job or evict you from your home merely for being who you are. That’s YOU whose doing that you hateful, prejudiced, evil bigot. Gays support your equal rights, gays are your moral superiors in every way, shape and form.
You’re so profoundly deluded you think you deserve an apology for me rightfully pointing out your bigotry and outrageous lies about gay people. You seek to oppress and attack gay people, you owe the entire gay community an apology, you should hang your head in shame for the evil you perpetrate. Go f**k yourself you devil.
Right on Priya Lynn!
@ G.S. – I have heard a lot from these organizations pleading victimhood after the SPLC designation. I have read SPLC’s profile reports and list of anti-gay myths.
What I haven’t heard OR read is a simple statement by these organizations by way of “we never said these thing” or “we were misconstrued because . . .”
At no time has the Family Research Council, the National Association for Marriage, nor any of the other groups ever denied saying or doing the things SPLC has accused them of.
Seems to me that they are trying to avoid the issue by pretending to be victims.
GS, you might be able to count the amount of prankery and disruption (and maybe, possibly, hateful feelings) expressed and caused by the gay community on, at most, 2 hands.
Pouring glue into locks? spraypainting graffiti? Breaking styrofoam crosses?
Please tell me how these are as horrible as youth suicides, gang rapes and beatings, and fencepost-stringing.
Or as bad as the “tamer” acts like denying partners hospital visitation (even among deadly cases), legal acknowledgment of existence as a unique class, and anti-bullying education measures.
No serious gay organization I can think of is actively working to deny Christians the right to pray publicly, marry one another, and express their Christianity without having fear of violent reprisal. Nobody is asking Christians be jailed. In fact, the SPLC says that opining that homosexuality is “unbiblical” is not enough to be counted as a hate group. It has to be something much more insidious. And indeed, it is.
[...] so let’s just jump in and look at the wingnut reactions to the Southern Poverty Law Center adding the Family Research Council and the American Family Association to their list of anti-gay hate [...]
If the FRC is a hate group, then these words no longer have meaning. More correct is that the SPLC has earned the ‘stupid’ group category. Forrest Gump was right, “stupid is as stupid does” – the SPLC has stepped down from dumb to dumber. Its effort is merely to stifle opposition and destroy the 1st Amendment. One cannot laugh at this, though it’s laughable – just shake your head.
Whiny.
@Priya Lynn
I’m not anti-gay at all, but if you call for a religion to be destroyed, then you probably should be considered a hate group.