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Montreal Gay Pride; Aug 15, 2010
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Montreal Gay Pride; Aug 15, 2010
Top 18 Anti-Gay Hate Groups Listed, Obsessed With Nazis, Resent Being Called "Hate Groups"
Nonprofit will designate the Family Research Council a 'hate group'
By: CNN's David de Sola; Nov 26, 2010
Washington (CNN) - The Southern Poverty Law Center will designate the Family Research Council, a powerful conservative advocacy organization, as a hate group next year because of its anti-gay views. For its part, the council is already firing back in a statement calling the announcement a "smear campaign."
In the most recent edition of its publication "Intelligence Report," the SPLC included its analysis of 14 years' worth of hate crimes data. The study concluded that gays were more likely to be victims of a violent hate crime than any other minority group. As part of its study, the SPLC made a list titled "18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda." The SPLC said it would designate 13 of the 18 groups on the list as "hate groups" in 2011, including the Family Research Council.
The SPLC's criteria for listing these organizations was "generally... based on their propagation of known falsehoods – claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities – and repeated, groundless name-calling."
In making its case against the Family Research Council, the SPLC cites the work and comments of several people associated with the influential conservative group. According to the report, Robert Sprigg, a senior research fellow, told MSNBC's Chris Matthews "I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions on homosexual behavior." The report also alleges Sprigg opposed allowing gays to openly serve in the military because it would "lead to an increase in gay-on-straight sexual assaults."
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins blasted the SPLC report and called for an apology. In a written statement, Perkins says "The Southern Poverty Law Center is a massively funded liberal organization that operates under a veneer of public justice when, in fact, they seem more interested in fundraising ploys than fighting wrongdoing. This is a deliberately timed smear campaign by the SPLC."
"The Left is losing the debate over ideas and the direction of public policy so all that is left for them is character assassination. It's a sad day in America when we can not, with integrity, have a legitimate discussion over policy issues that are being considered by Congress, legislatures, and the courts without resorting to juvenile tactics of name calling."
Full statement from Family Research Council President Tony Perkins:
"Family Research Council has, for nearly 30 years, advanced faith, family, and freedom in public discourse. We do so with civility and compassion. We hold to the indisputable fact that the family – a Dad, a Mom, and children – is the best building block of a good society, which is why we oppose efforts to transform it based on personal sexual preference.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center is a massively funded liberal organization that operates under a veneer of public justice when, in fact, they seem more interested in fundraising ploys than fighting wrongdoing.
"This is a deliberately timed smear campaign by the SPLC. The Left is losing the debate over ideas and the direction of public policy so all that is left for them is character assassination. It's a sad day in America when we can not, with integrity, have a legitimate discussion over policy issues that are being considered by Congress, legislatures, and the courts without resorting to juvenile tactics of name calling."
"The Left's smear campaigns of conservatives is also being driven by the clear evidence that the American public is losing patience with their radical policy agenda as seen in the recent election and in the fact that every state, currently more than thirty, that has had the opportunity to defend the natural definition of marriage has done so. Earlier this month, voters in Iowa sent a powerful message when they removed three Supreme Court justices who imposed same-sex marriage on the state. Would the SPLC also smear the good people of Iowa?"
"Family Research Council will continue to champion marriage and family as the foundation of our society and will not acquiesce to those seeking to silence the Judeo-Christian views held by millions of Americans. We call on the Southern Poverty Law Center to apologize for this slanderous attack and attempted character assassination."
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