I’ve been writing quite a bit about Hate this past week, but this is critically important if we are to ever see equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer folks in our country. The linked blog post is from the GLAAD blog (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and it is a very important read for anyone who care about making Equality a reality.

At issue was the recent story about the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which named the Family Research Center (FRC) a Hate group. I wrote about this a few weeks ago. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews had Tony Perkins from FRC and Mark Potok from SPLC on to talk about it. In the discussion, Perkins, made a remark about research from the American College of Pediatricians that showed that gay people molest kids more than straights do. In the segment, Potok wasn’t given a chance to respond to that statement.

Here’s the problem with a group like the FRC which has a name designed to make it sound legitimate. They are using propaganda produced by another anti-gay group which also has a very legitimate sounding name. I remember when I read about this a week ago, I thought to myself, “hmm… American College of Pediatricians… sounds impressive. Is there any truth to this research?” Turns out there isn’t.  This anti-gay group formed because the prestigious organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out in support of gay parenting.

Box Turtle Bulliten describes the American College of Pediatricians as a group started by 6 anti-gay pediatricians:

It would be accurate to describe this organization as a vehicle through which a small minority of anti-gay doctors advocate in opposition to gay rights, abortion rights, and euthanasia.

This is an advocacy group dedicated to political goals which is using an authoritative sounding name to fool the unaware.

While Perkins didn’t lie, directly (the fake academic group did release such a a statement) the base of it is fraudulent, and is designed to pass fraudulent information off as fact, and peer-reviewed research when it isn’t.

This is what makes the Family Research Council a hate group.  Their desire to harm gay people by the deliberate use of falsehoods and misinformation, paraded around as if they were facts. And here is the problem- if people don’t counter this type of crap, these falsehoods will end up being treated as if they are truth. Here is the other problem, the FRC is very well entrenched in the GOP and conservative movement. They already treat this stuff as if it were fact.

So much of LGBT activism seems to revolve around demanding that our elected officials pass laws that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This is a good thing! But it isn’t enough. More activism needs to be focused on not only pointing out the lies and misinformation, but countering them with the truth. Groups like GLAAD do that, but it isn’t enough. More needs to be happening around this side of activism.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Clears Up Anti-Gay Misinformation | GLAADBlog.org.