Trump is already consorting with a hate group

For good reason, the news that president-elect Donald Trump selected white nationalist provocateur, Steve Bannon, as his chief strategist has grabbed all of the media attention.

But let's not forget Trump's association with the Family Research Council, a Southern Poverty Law Center anti-lgbt hate group. Indeed the group has already wormed itself into his circle because a member, Ken Blackwell, is leading the domestic policy of his transition team.

Keeping that in mind, how much do we actually know about FRC?  We know they are a hate group because of how they have denigrated and lied about lgbts. Of course when and if confronted with this, FRC, particularly its president, Tony Perkins, can easily deflect by espousing such things as "anti-Christian" persecution, morality, and values

That's why it's important that the lgbt community can go into specifics and hammer those specifics repeatedly about FRC. So let's just go through a small primer:

There is FRC spokesman Peter Sprigg:

And then there is the president, Tony Perkins:



Lastly, there is this snippet of an excellent bio of FRC by the Southern Poverty Law Center (the entire piece should be required reading for the lgbt community and members of the media):

The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

To make the case that the LGBT community is a threat to American society, the FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed the FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate. Its research fellows and leaders often testify before Congress and appear in the mainstream media. It also works at the grassroots level, conducting outreach to pastors in an effort to “transform the culture.”

In Its Own Words

“The reality is, homosexuals have entered the Scouts in the past for predatory purposes.”
– FRC vice president Rob Schwarzwalder, on radio’s “The Janet Mefferd Show,” Feb. 1, 2013.

“[H]omosexual activists vehemently reject the evidence which suggests that homosexual men … are … relative to their numbers, more likely to engage in such actions [childhood sexual abuse] than are heterosexual men.”
– Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at FRC, on why the Boy Scouts should not allow LGBT Scouts or leaders, FRC blog, February 1, 2013.

“The videos are titled 'It Gets Better.' They are aimed at persuading kids that although they'll face struggles and perhaps bullying for 'coming out' as homosexual (or transgendered or some other perversion), life will get better. …It's disgusting. And it's part of a concerted effort to persuade kids that homosexuality is okay and actually to recruit them into that lifestyle."
 — Tony Perkins, FRC fundraising letter, August 2011

With groups like the Family Research Council in close proximity to Trump, it's not difficult to understand why the lgbt community doesn't believe his supposed soothing words about marriage equality. And why we feel that other rights we have and are fighting for are in jeopardy.

Related post:

16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group