Anti-gay hate groups

The following is a list of notable U.S.-based organizations classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as anti-LGBT hate groups. The SPLC defines hate groups as those that "... have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics." The SPLC states that hate group activities may include speeches, marches, rallies, meetings, publishing, leafleting, and criminal acts such as violence.

The SPLC classifies organizations that propagate "known falsehoods – claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities – and repeated, groundless name-calling" as anti-LGBT hate groups. The SPLC states that "viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations to be listed as hate groups." SPLC President Richard Cohen clarified "[B]y '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."

The SPLC reported that 926 hate groups were active in the United States in 2008, up from 888 in 2007. These included:

The Southern Poverty Law Center has provided the FBI with information on hate groups. Since 1981 the SPLC has published a quarterly Intelligence Report that provides updates on its monitoring of what it describes as radical right hate groups and extremists in the United States, providing information on the organizational efforts and tactics of these groups. It has been cited by scholars as a reliable source on right-wing extremism and hate groups. The SPLC also publishes a newsletter, the HateWatch Weekly, and maintains a blog, HateWatch, which monitor the extreme right. Rory McVeigh, Chair of the University of Notre Dame Sociology Department, described the SPLC as "an excellent source of information for social scientists who study hate groups."

The SPLC's data on hate groups was questioned by journalist Ken Silverstein who argues that the organization sometimes exaggerates the threats posed by certain groups. In the wake of an August 2012 shooting at the headquarters of the Family Research Council, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank criticized the SPLC's listing of the Family Research Council as an anti-gay hate group while others, including Americablog's former editor John Aravosis, defended the categorization.

...
Wikipedia