Yesterday, the Southern Poverty Law Center added five more organizations to its list of anti-gay hate groups, including some names that are long overdue.
The new groups are:
- American Family Association
- Americans for Truth About Homosexuality
- Dove World Outreach Center
- Family Research Council
- Illinois Family Institute
This brings the total of anti-gay hate groups to 18 and all of them are profiled in exact detail by SPLC.
Other groups profiled by SPLC but not designated as official hate groups are:
- Christian Anti-Defamation Commission
- Concerned Women for America
- Coral Ridge Ministries
- Liberty Counsel
- National Organization for Marriage
And as an added bonus SPLC also has a page in which they debunk 10 anti-gay myths. And I am sure you have heard of all them before (i.e. gays molest children at a higher rate than heterosexuals, gay have a short lifespan, you can "cure" homosexuality.)
And one thing that cannot be repeated enough is SPLC's reasons to list these organizations as anti-gay hate groups:
Even as some well-known anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family moderate their views, a hard core of smaller groups, most of them religiously motivated, have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities. These groups' influence reaches far beyond what their size would suggest, because the "facts" they disseminate about homosexuality are often amplified by certain politicians, other groups and even news organizations. Of the 18 groups profiled below, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will be listing 13 next year as hate groups (eight were previously listed), reflecting further research into their views; those are each marked with an asterisk. Generally, the SPLC's listings of these 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. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups.
The last sentence was emphasized by me because it needs to be remembered. Unfortunately when the inaccuracies of various religious right groups are pointed out, the conversation tends to go on a religious direction and this is a mistake.
When we go to the religious direction, we give these groups a chance to cover themselves. "These are merely our personal religious beliefs," they say.
Religion is immaterial. The bad acts that theses groups commit in the name of religion is the point we should focus on and hammer consistently.
The message should be kept short and sweet -- these groups knowingly lie about LGBTs in attempts to demonize the community.
My advice to everyone is to read SPLC's profiles, memorize them, and pass them around to your friends and neighbors.
These groups and their spokespeople are liars and they need to be called as such. Lgbts need to hammer that point over and over and over again until it is drilled into the consciousness of America.
Hat tip to People for the American Way and Truth Wins Out
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