As somebody who obviously follows LGBT issues very closely, I think I've developed a sort of immunity to a lot of the vile, nasty things anti-gay bigots say. But every once in a while, something pisses me off to the point where I just want to scream. This is one of those times.
Joe Jervis over at JoeMyGod posted a video clip from CNN in which Brian Brown, the current head of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), responds to yesterday's shooting at the Family Research Council (FRC) headquarters. First of all--not that I should have to say this, because I think we're all thinking the same thing--the shooting yesterday was an awful tragedy that should not have happened. But now the anti-gay right is apparently taking the position, all of a sudden, that speech can lead to violence, and is demanding that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) take the FRC off its list of hate groups and apologize. Now bigots like Brown are crying about the need for civility and a robust, polite debate over the issues.
REALLY???
Here is the video clip from CNN:
If you can't watch the video, let's start with this quote:
So everything points to the fact that [the shooting] was politically motivated, and it's totally unacceptable. And groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which have labeled the Family Research Council, which is a mainstream group, a hate group, that sort of talk, that sort of labeling and attack, it's totally irresponsible and unacceptable, and I think this incident makes that clear.
He added:
And you have one of the spokesmen for the Southern Poverty Law Center actually saying that [the FRC] is really no different than the Aryan Brotherhood, you've crossed a line. It's totally unacceptable...We need to have a civil debate over issues like redefining marriage, but we should not be attacking and labeling as hate groups those that we disagree [with].
The CNN host, to her credit, immediately rattled off a particularly despicable quote from FRC literature and demanded that Brown say whether or not it was hateful. Here is that quote, from a 1999 FRC pamphlet entitled "Homosexual Activists Work to Normalize Sex with Boys":
One of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the "prophets" of a new sexual order.
Shit like
that is why the FRC is on the list of hate groups. Brian Brown's response?
Just because you disagree with that statement, you should argue with it. By no means can you say that just because of a statement like that, this is the same as the KKK or the Aryan Brotherhood, that's totally unacceptable.
When pressed further on whether or not it is a hateful statement, Brown had this to say:
No, I would disagree...I mean, again, you can agree or disagree with the position, but saying it's spewing hate and that we are therefore going to label you a hate group, that's totally irresponsible, and I think the American people understand this, and this tragedy highlights how irresponsible something like this is.
That's right. Apparently what is needed in response to the FRC's outrageous claim that the gay community's goal is to normalize sex with children is a "civil debate." We need to politely debate whether or not we gays are all child molesters. How
dare we label such an unfounded and ridiculous claim "hate"?
First of all, why is this assclown on national television? That's number one.
Secondly, really? This guy is arguing for civility?
His own organization, NOM, tries to portray itself as a "civil," single-issue organization. But, of course, that's certainly not the case. NOM has no qualms about being affiliated with and directly linking to material that echoes the hatred of the FRC. For example, as the article I linked to explores in-depth, NOM's Ruth Institute published part of an essay last year by Michael Brown, a virulent hatemonger and anti-gay activist (who, by the way, has publicly responded to another diary I wrote about him), along with a "Keep Reading" link. If you clicked on the link, you would find this gem in the last part of the essay:
Could it be that the [Penn State] sex abuse scandal involved a man allegedly abusing boys, meaning that the acts were homosexual in nature? And could it be that even Rush Limbaugh didn’t have the guts to address this? (Contrary to the protestations of some, a man who is sexually involved with boys is a homosexual pedophile; a man who is sexually involved with girls is a heterosexual pedophile.)
In addition, in December, the Ruth Institute started pushing a book called
Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk by Matthew Staver of the anti-gay Liberty Counsel. The NOM institute proclaimed:
Anybody who cares about the future of our society should read this book.
Those who read the book came across this:
29 percent of the adult children of homosexual parents had been specifically subjected to sexual molestation by that homosexual parent, compared to only 0.6 percent of the adult children of heterosexual parents… Having a homosexual parent(s) appears to increase the risk of incest with a parent by a factor of about 50.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. This is the kind of hate speech organizations like the FRC and NOM traffic in. They revel in it like pigs rolling around in mud. And then they turn around and start screeching about "civility" when organizations like the SPLC call them on their bullshit. The onus is on
us to disprove their already-debunked, outlandish claims linking gays to pedophilia. Otherwise, we're irresponsible and uncivil.
This is enough to make me want to pull my hair out. The blatant hypocrisy is so obvious to anybody who opens their eyes to see it.
Well, hate speech is hate speech, and organizations that traffic in it are hate groups. So whine away, Brian. You're a hateful bigot. You'd might as well wear the title proudly.