The group, and its bigoted leader Tony Perkins, has been trying to pass themselves off as a christian group just trying to defend strong christian values -- values they would love to force on all other Americans. But's that's just a lie -- unless you consider hatred and bigotry to be christian (and American) values.
Finally, someone has called them out on their lies. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the most outspoken and effective group battling for equal rights and an end to bigotry, has officially added the Family Research Council (FRC) to its list of "hate groups". The SPLC, which has broken the back of many hate groups like the KKK by taking them to court and winning sizeable judgements for their victims, keeps a list of hate groups in America -- a list that currently has over 900 hate organizations on it.
The SPLC says a hate group is one that has "beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics." Although Perkins and the FRC are incensed over the hate group classification, there is no doubt that the FRC fits the definition of a hate group.
The FRC has shown an extreme hatred of homosexuals and worked for years to deny that group the same rights enjoyed by other Americans. That would be bad enough, but this group doesn't mind spreading outright lies to achieve their hateful goal. One example of this is the lie they are currently spreading to defeat the elimination of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The FRC is telling people that homosexuals are three times as likely to commit sexual assaults as heterosexuals -- an outrageous lie supported by no evidence at all (except in the black heart of Tony Perkins).
The FRC has in the past defended its hateful actions by claiming their beliefs are religious-based. They have the right to their own beliefs, however hateful. But by going out and spreading outright lies in an effort to affect government policy to deny others their equal rights, they have stepped over the line and earned their designation as a hate group.
I applaud this action by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It's high time for decent Americans to stand up against this kind of unconstitutional and un-American bigotry.
The SPLC listed the FRC among 18 anti-gay hate groups, including National Organization for Marriage, Traditional Values Coalition, Liberty Counsel, Family Research Institute, and the American Family Association. The full list of these anti-gay hate groups can be found here.
The Department of Defence, reviewed the "case synopses" of all 1,643 reports of sexual assault reported by the four branches of the military for Fiscal Year 2009 (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009). The startling finding was that over eight percent (8.2%) of all military sexual assault cases were homosexual in nature. This suggests that homosexuals in the military are about three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals are, relative to their numbers.
ReplyDeleteA lie repeated is still a lie.
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