Family Research Council Disputes Inclusion On Southern Poverty Law Center List Of 18 Anti-Gay Hate Groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center released a list of 18 organisations it considers hate groups, included among them the anti-gay Family Research Council, and as the Washington Post reports FRC president Tony Perkins, also named in the report, called the hate group designation a political attack waged by “liberal organisation. In a statement, Perkins said that “The left’s smear campaign conservative is ... 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 ... that has had the opportunity to defend the natural definition of marriage has done so.” The Family Research Council was among the out-of-state groups that recently supported a successful attempt to remove three state Supreme Court judges in Iowa, and Perkins referenced the supposed victory today, saying “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?” The law center said that it chose to feature the groups on the list “based on their propagation of known falsehood” and “repeated, groundless name-calling,” adding that “Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organisations for listing as hate groups.” The National Organisation for Marriage, also included on the list, objected to their inclusion, Brian Brown the president saying that idea anti-gay groups are akin to racists is wrong. “This is about protecting marriage. This isn’t about being anti-anyone,” said Brown. “The whole idea that somehow those folks who stand up for traditional marriage, like the Family Research Council, are hateful is wrong. The (law center is) trying to marginalise and intimidate folks for standing up for marriage and also trying to equate them somehow to the KKK.”