- Graphic from Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that for the the first time the number of hate groups operating in the U.S. tops 1,000.
For the first time last year, SPLC included organizations like the National Organization for Marriage as anti-LGBT hate groups that promote violence.
SPLC attributes the increase to three factors:
resentment over the changing racial demographics of the country, frustration over the lagging economy, and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and other demonizing propaganda aimed at minorities and the government.
SPLC, based in Montgomery, Ala., has been tracking hate groups since the 1980s. The number of groups has increased during Democratic as well as Republican administrations. Every year since 2000 has seen an increase.
The most violent groups are so-called “patriot” groups that have killed eight law-enforcement officers since President Barack Obama took office.
Of the total, Texas has 59 hate groups listed, second only to California’s 68 hate groups. In Texas, the Bethesda Christian Institute in San Antonio is the only anti-gay hate group listed. Most of the Texas groups are Nazi or KKK. Dallas is home to the Confederate Hammerskins, a racist skinhead group. Fort Worth has a chapter of the Klan and a Nation of Islam group. Richardson and Irving are home to white nationalist organizations.
Only one anti-immigrant hate group is listed in Texas — the Border Guardians in Livingston, about 75 miles northeast of Houston and several hundred miles from the border.
Among the anti-gay hate groups are the Family Research Institute in Colorado Springs, the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss., and the Traditional Values Coalition in Anaheim, Calif.
The state with the fewest hate groups is first-in-the-nation-with-civil-unions Vermont, with just two competing chapters of the Klan.
UPDATE and CORRECTION: We received a note from Focus on the Family, which I had listed with the other groups. They are not and never were one of the hate groups.
Liberty Counsel, Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, Concerned Women for America, Coral Ridge Ministries and National Organization for Marriage are groups whose anti-gay activities SPLC looked into but whose homophobia did not rise to the level of hate group.
Abiding Truth Ministries, American Family Association, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, American Vision, Chalcedon Foundation, Dove World Outreach Center, Faithful Word Baptist Church, Family Research Council, Family Research Institute, Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment, Illinois Family Institute, MassResistance and Traditional Values Coalition are listed as hate groups.
NOM has not been designated a hate group. CF this NPR report:
http://www.dallasvoice.com/hate-group-count-tops-1000-1066213.html
We also heard from Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. In the op-ed, and again, on the show, Franck accused the SPLC of designating certain organizations as hate groups for no reason other than their opposition to same-sex marriage. He cited The National Organization for Marriage as an example of a group he claimed had been unfairly tarred and feathered with the hate group label as part of an attempt to stifle debate on same-sex marriage.
Franck’s charges are inaccurate, Richard Cohen of the SPLC wrote. In our recent report, we designated groups as hate groups only if they knowingly spread demeaning falsehoods about gay men and lesbians. Contrary to Franck’s claim on the show, we did not designate the National Organization for Marriage as a hate group, despite its opposition to same-sex marriage, precisely because we didn’t have evidence that it was knowingly spreading lies. We’re all for robust public debates, but demeaning falsehoods have no place in them. Gay men and lesbians are by far the most likely group to be targeted for hate crimes in our country. Propagating demeaning falsehoods about the LGBT community simply adds fuel to the fire.
SPLC designated NOM as a Hate Group in November, 2010.
https://splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners
Greetings, all.
Ms. Gallagher is correct. The National Organization for Marriage was not designated an anti-gay hate group. Here’s the link to the piece the SPLC did (supplied in the preceding comment as well; thanks: https://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners) with an introduction explaining the hate group designation. Of the 18 groups profiled, 13 were designated hate groups. NOM is not one of them. The introduction explains that groups with an asterisk are considered hate groups. Here’s text from the intro to the piece:
“Of the 18 groups profiled below, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will be listing 13 next year as hate groups (eight were previously listed), reflecting further research into their views; those are each marked with an asterisk. Generally, the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups.”
The 5 groups that are NOT listed as hate groups include:
Christian Anti-Defamation Commission
Concerned Women for America
Coral Ridge Ministries
Liberty Counsel
National Organization for Marriage
Thanks,
Evelyn Schlatter
I stand corrected.