Family Research Council's president' won't stop lying about organization's 'hate group' designation

Beltway media wrongly gives Perkins, FRC free pass to lie.

In a recent fundraising letter to followers, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins pulled out all of the stop to weasel as much money as possible. Of course he used the usual lie about how Christians' "religious liberty" was being attacked. Perkins also brought up the awful incident in which the group was targeted by a deranged gunman named Floyd Corkins. In 2012, Corkins sought to begin a mass shooting at FRC headquarters but was stopped by the security guard before anyone was seriously hurt.

The fact that Corkins was prevented from carrying out his plot was a good thing. The unfortunate thing is how FRC has continuously exploited the incident, such as in the fundraising letter when it said:

On August 15, 2012, Floyd Corkins walked into FRC’s Washington offices and opened fire. His intent was to kill as many FRC employees as he could. And he had the ammunition to murder or maim dozens. But thanks to divine intervention, and the quick actions and bravery of the unarmed Leo Johnson, who took a bullet as he subdued Mr. Corkins, no one else was hurt.

What instigated this unprovoked attack? The website of the wealthy liberal organization misnamed the Southern Poverty Law Center. You see FRC was targeted on the SPLC “hate map” for its stand against same-sex “marriage.”

Uh no.

Probably for the thousandth time on this blog, NO.

Corkins was man off of his medication who had thought about harming anti-gay groups long before SPLC called out FRC as an anti-gay hate group. And also, FRC earned the designation not because of its stand against marriage equality, but for something much more sinister and enduring.

According to SPLC's Richard Cohen right after the Corkins incident:

Contrary to what the FRC has repeatedly claimed, we do not list the FRC as a hate group because of its opposition to gay marriage or because of its religious beliefs. Instead, we list the FRC because it engages in baseless, incendiary name-calling and spreads demonizing lies about the LGBT community.

The FRC portrays gay people as sick, evil, perverted, incestuous and a danger to the nation. It insists that gay people are “fundamentally incapable” of providing good homes for children – a myth that has been rejected by all relevant scientific authorities. One of its key leaders has actually said that homosexual behavior should be criminalized.

Perhaps the FRC’s most dangerous lie is its claim that pedophilia is a “homosexual problem,” to use Perkins’ words. Here’s what the American Psychological Association says: “Despite a common myth, homosexual men are not more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual men are.” The APA adds, “There is no scientific support for fears about children of lesbian or gay parents being sexually abused by their parents or their parents’ gay, lesbian or bisexual friends or acquaintances.”

Linking the LGBT community to pedophilia is not an expression of a religious belief, as Perkins would have it. It’s simply a lie – and a particularly ugly one at that. Constantly portraying gay people as sick, evil, perverted, incestuous and a danger to the nation simply adds fuel to the fire.

It's one thing to be bullheaded and stubborn when it comes to beliefs, but this issue of why SPLC designated FRC to be a hate group has been covered repeatedly. Enough times to for Perkins to know that his claim is false.

In other words, Tony Perkins is lying. And he knows that he is lying every time he makes that claim.

GLAAD has compiled a list of comments by FRC president Tony Perkins and spokesperson Peter Sprigg which more than proves SPLC's points about FRC. For example:

Tony Perkins:

 Says about gay people: “They are intolerant. They are hateful. They are vile. They are spiteful"..."pawns" of the "enemy.” (See 1:30 mark.)

Claims LGBT activists are going to "start rolling out the boxcars" and carting away Christians (a reference to the Holocaust)

Claims gay parents ''provide distorted values to innocent adopted kids"

Despite what health experts have said, insists that pedophilia is “a homosexual problem.”

Peter Sprigg:

 “I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States, because we believe that homosexuality is destructive to society.” (See 0:11 mark here.) [*NOTE: A week later, Peter rolled back his statements, saying he "used language that trivialized the seriousness of the issue and did not communicate respect for the essential dignity of every human being as a person created in the image of God"]

Says he wants to see being gay punished by law: “I think that the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which overturned the sodomy laws in this country, was wrongly decided. I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior.”

Claims: “There is, for example, a single and simple solution for smoking-related illnesses, and we have all heard it—‘If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, quit.’  It’s long past time for public health authorities to say the same” (about being gay)

Claims transgender men and women "are people who DENY who they really are;" says laws protecting transgender individuals "force private actors to affirm delusions"

It's relatively sad to consider that Perkins and the Family Research Council have gotten away with what they have been doing for so long. One reason may be because they are so deeply entrenched in the jaded Washington D.C. Beltway that they are given somewhat of a free pass by the media. After all, many members of that group has referred to Perkins as an evangelical or faith leader on a number of occasions, in spite of his vicious dehumanization of the lgbt community.

But every time Perkins is referred to as a "faith leader" and every time he gains access to the media without having to answer for his statements against the lgbt community is a poor indictment on not just the Washington D.C. Beltway media, but all American media in general.