What Will It Take For News Networks To Stop Inviting Anti-Gay Hate Mongers On The Air?

Last year, The Family Research Council (FRC) was added to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) list of anti-gay hate groups. On its website, the SPLC lays out the case for FRC’s inclusion in the list:

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, FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate.

Now, a new video put together by Dave Evans, gay activists and creator of Such Is Life Videos, compiles just a sampling of the group’s campaign of anti-gay hatred and misinformation over the past few years. The video focuses primarily on statements made by FRC president Tony Perkins and FRC’s Senior Fellow for Policy Studies Peter Sprigg:

As thorough as the video is, it doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of FRC’s history of promoting anti-LGBT politics. Here’s a slightly more exhaustive – though far from complete – list of the group’s anti-gay propaganda:

FRC Calls “Homosexual Conduct” “Harmful To The Persons Who Engage In It And To Society At Large”

FRC Filed An Amicus Brief In Support Of Maintaining Anti-Gay Sodomy Laws

FRC Opposes International Efforts To Prevent Anti-LGBT Violence

FRC Calls Anti-Gay Hate Crimes “A Phony ‘Crisis’ Intended To Suppress Free Speech”

FRC Paints Gay Troops As Sexual Predators

FRC Boycotts CPAC Over GOProud’s Attendance

Tony Perkins Warns Repealing DADT Will Put “Millions Of People At Risk”

Tony Perkins Pushes Misinformation About DADT Repeal

Tony Perkins Rails Against Gender Diversity, LGBT Tolerance Lesson

Tony Perkins Says Anti-Bullying Policies “Promot[e] Homosexuality” In Schools

Tony Perkins Argues Judge Walker Should Have Recused Himself From Prop 8 Case Because Of His Sexuality

Tony Perkins Claims Obama Is Violating His Oath By Defending DOMA

Tony Perkins Compares Gays And Lesbians To Terrorists

Tony Perkins Argues Same-Sex Couples Shouldn’t Raise Children

Tony Perkins Spreads Misinformation About ENDA

Peter Sprigg Suggests Harvey Milk Was A Pedophile, Faked Hate Crime To Advance His Cause

Peter Sprigg Supports Ex-Gay Therapy, Denies That Homosexuality Is Immutable

Peter Sprigg Would Prefer To “Export” Gays And Lesbians From The U.S.

Peter Sprigg Stokes Controversy Over Navy Weddings

Peter Sprigg Pushes Homosexuality/Pedophilia Connection

Peter Sprigg Accuses Anti-Bullying Initiatives Of “Indoctrinating” Children

Peter Sprigg’s Solution To Transgender Discrimination: “Stop Pretending To Be The Opposite Of Your Real Sex”

John Aravosis at AMERICAblog has also compiled a pretty thorough list of FRC’s anti-gay positions.

It’s pretty clear that FRC more than deserves its hate group label.

This raises a number of questions, however, about anti-gay politics in the media.

Why do networks like Fox, CNN, and MSNBC continue to provide people like Perkins and Sprigg with on-air platforms by inviting them to debate LGBT issues?

What do people like Perkins and Sprigg have to say before they’re considered too ridiculous and hateful for mainstream television?

Is it really that hard to find conservative commentators that oppose LGBT equality without relying on misinformation and hate speech?

In their effort to appear “fair and balanced,” these major news networks have provided some of the country’s most vile and bigoted anti-gay zealots with a constant source of media attention. Enough is enough. 

Previously:

Fox Host, Tony Perkins Bash School Lesson On Gender Diversity

Tony Perkins Compares Gays And Lesbians To Terrorists

Fox Invites Hate Group President Tony Perkins To Continue His Anti-Gay Misinformation Campaign