For the record, today’s shooting at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Family Research Council, was wrong, evil, misguided, and cowardly. Worse, it harms all Americans, not only the security guard shot in the arm who heroically helped stop his attacker, but all Americans who believe that no matter our differences, we together share our humanity.
Violence is not the answer to the challenges we face in this country, nor is it the answer to the troubles faced around the world.
Today we applaud the heroism of Leo Johnson, the security guard who bravely, while shot in the arm, helped stop today’s gunman.
Countless times, here at The New Civil Rights Movement, and in other public and private venues, I have denounced guns and violence. Sadly, like many, far too many Americans, my life has been touched by gun violence. I am a strong advocate for gun control and peaceful efforts to solve differences.
Unfortunately, today, our opponents, those on the right who peddle hate, those theocratic purveyors of anti-gay zealotry, are using today’s shooting to further their anti-gay agenda of hateful inequality.
Make no mistake. Today’s action, regardless of who the shooter is, regardless of his motives, is the work of someone who does not stand for or represent the vast, vast majority of LGBT community, progressives, Democrats, or liberals. Any attempt to isolate anonymous comments, tweets, or highlight postings of those who hold no responsibility within the LGBT or progressive community, is both an act of cowardice, and just poor journalism — if that at all.
Attempting to use today’s shooting to further an anti-gay agenda is not only wrong, but will immediately be seen for what it is, and immediately denounced by those far more powerful than I.
Lastly, today’s violence in no way absolves the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, or any other anti-gay organization of the years — if not decades — of their anti-gay animus and hate, which has contributed to an environment in which our LGBTQ children and teens have attempted and/or completed suicide.
And it in no way changes the equation.
Here at The New Civil Rights Movement, we will continue to highlight and expose the anti-gay rhetoric and actions of those who contribute to an environment of hate, inequality, and injustice.
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SPLC’s Anti-Gay Hate List Compiled With Diligence and Clear Standards
By Richard Cohen, President
Matthew Franck, director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute, appeared as a guest on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” on Dec. 21 following his publication of an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Dec. 17. Mr. Franck made a number of inaccurate references to recent articles published by the Southern Poverty Law Center on the activities of organizations opposed to the equal-rights efforts of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender Americans. Unfortunately, those statements were allowed to stand unchallenged. I would like to set the record straight.
The program’s host, Neal Conan, noted Mr. Franck’s statement that the SPLC published a report “identifying a dozen or so anti-gay hate groups, some for no apparent reason other than their vocal opposition to same-sex marriage.” Anyone who read our report would have known that we identified exactly 13 organizations as hate groups – and not one of them was listed because of their position on same-sex marriage.
We detailed clearly the criteria we used for identifying an organization as an anti-gay hate group: “[T]heir propagation of known falsehoods – claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities – and repeated, groundless name-calling.” By “known falsehoods,” we mean such things as asserting that gays and lesbians are more disposed to molesting children than heterosexuals – which the overwhelming weight of credible scientific research has determined is patently untrue. Nowhere in our report do we equate taking a position against same-sex marriage with hate speech.
Mr. Franck said further that we engaged in a “failure to discriminate some groups from others” in compiling our anti-gay hate groups list. We analyzed in detail each of 18 organizations we cite as purveyors of anti-gay rhetoric, and determined that the activities of five of them – including the National Organization for Marriage – did not meet the above-stated hate-group criteria despite their opposition to same-sex marriage. We distinguished the 13 hate groups from the other five with a widely recognized notational symbol: an asterisk. Why this proved confusing to Mr. Franck is unclear. Nevertheless, it is irresponsible of Mr. Franck to state that the SPLC was “undiscriminating” in its analysis when our criteria and our conclusions were plainly stated.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is in no way opposed to the invigorating clash of ideas in the public forum. We do, however, feel it is important to point out when claims being made are demonstrably false, and when disparaging, emotion-provoking stereotypes are used in place of facts and logic. When we designate an organization as a hate group, it isn’t to suppress debate; it is to sound a warning alarm: “This debater isn’t being honest about the facts – and we can prove it.”
Years ago, back when I worked in a hospital ICU, we would occasionally take care of a small toddler or child who was accidentally shot either by themselves or a sibling, playing with a loaded gun. The nurses would all huddle around the parents, coddling them and feeling sorry for them. I say, FUCK the parents. I truly felt bad for the child, but the shooting was absolutely the parents' fault. If they had not allowed access to a loaded goddamn firearm, there would be no accidental shootings in the home.
The FRC will never, ever take any responsibility here. They think they can promote dehumanization and genocide against millions of Americans, and there will be no blowback, karmic or otherwise?
Violence is never the solution, and what happened today is wrong. But by the same token the FRC is playing with fire with their constant attempt to dehumanize and delegitimize gays. Hopefully some day the FRC will truly live up to their name and realize that promoting equality and love and family formation of gays is the VERY DEFINITION of being "pro family". But until then, the FRC is nothing but a sick joke and a bigot hole that will attract bad karma.
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