Anti-LGBT, against
lesbian,
gay,
bisexual,
transgender, and
queer/
questioning (
LGBTQ) people, or anti-gay can refer to activities in certain categories (or combination of categories): attitudes against or discrimination against LGBTQ people,
violence against LGBT people, LGBTQ rights opposition and
religious opposition to LGBTQ people. In its Winter 2010
Intelligence Report the SPLC noted that for thirty years going back to Anita Bryant's
Christian fundamentalists Save Our Children campaign, the first organized opposition to the
gay rights movement defeating an ordinance banning discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on
sexual orientation, "hard-line elements of the religious right have been searching for ways to demonize gay people—or, at a minimum, to find arguments that will prevent their normalization in society." These groups utilize anti-gay myths to "form the basis of its claim that homosexuality is a social evil that must be suppressed—an opinion rejected by virtually all relevant medical and scientific authorities." The SPLC notes these anti-gay myths "almost certainly contribute to
hate crime violence directed at the LGBT community, which is more targeted for such attacks than any other minority group in America."
Abiding Truth Ministries Abiding Truth Ministries is a
conservative Christian organization located in
Temecula, California. Their president,
Scott Lively, is an American author, attorney and activist, noted for his
opposition to LGBT rights and his involvement in the
ex-gay movement. Lively has called for the criminalization of "the public advocacy of homosexuality" as far back as 2007. He is also directly linked to pending
anti-gay legislation in
Uganda, which would, if passed, make homosexual conduct punishable by a lengthy prison sentence or
death. Along with Kevin E. Abrams, he co-authored the book
The Pink Swastika, which states in the preface that "homosexuals [are] the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities." In fact, under Nazi Germany, gays and lesbians were
sent to concentration camps and several historians have questioned the book's claims and selective use of research. Lively is the former state director for the California branch of the
American Family Association and formed
Watchmen on the Walls based in
Riga, Latvia. According to a January 2011 profile, Lively "has not changed his view that gays are 'agents of America's moral decline' but has refocused his approach to fit his flock in Springfield, Massachusetts" and "is toning down his antigay rhetoric and shifting his focus to helping the downtrodden." The SPLC regards Abiding Truth Ministries as a hate group. Lively has responded with his blog.
Alamo Christian Foundation The Alamo Christian Foundation was a cult founded by Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo in 1969 in Hollywood, California and later relocated to Dyer, Arkansas. The cult was plagued with legal troubles stemming from allegations of member abuse and tax troubles with the
IRS. The cult dissolved when Tony Alamo was arrested and convicted on ten counts of
child sexual abuse in 2009.
Alliance Defending Freedom In 2013, the SPLC described the
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as a "virulently anti-gay" organization. According to the SPLC, the ADF advocates in favor of the
criminalization of homosexuality, opposes equal rights for LGBT people, including
marriage equality, and makes false claims about the lives of LGBT people. In 2003, the ADF filed an unsuccessful
amicus brief in
Lawrence v. Texas asking the Supreme Court to uphold Texas'
criminal prohibition of sodomy. It has also published documents intended for school distribution stating that "there are moral, social, and medical reasons why homosexual behavior should not be affirmed," and citing medical studies and crime statistics indicating that homosexuals frequently engage in promiscuous behavior, and have a high rate of violent crime and mental illness. Conservative columnist and professor
Mike Adams criticized the SPLC for the designation because "Their reason for the characterization was simply that the ADF opposes efforts of the LGBT community to impose its agenda on those who disagree with them for religious reasons." ADF has responded to some media use of SPLC's "hate group" designation against them as defamatory and a discredit to the media profession.
American Family Association The
American Family Association (AFA) is a United States
non-profit organization that promotes
conservative fundamentalist Christian values. They oppose
same-sex marriage,
pornography, and
abortion. It was founded in 1977 by
Donald Wildmon as the National Federation for Decency and is headquartered in
Tupelo, Mississippi. The AFA defined itself as "a Christian organization promoting the
Biblical ethic of decency in American society with primary emphasis on television and other media," later switching their stated emphasis to "moral issues that impact the family". It engages in activism efforts, including
buycotts,
action alert emails, publications on the AFA's web sites or in the
AFA Journal, broadcasts on
American Family Radio, and
lobbying. The organization has an annual budget of US$14 million and owns 180 American Family Radio stations in 28 states. , AFA has been listed as a hate group by the SPLC for the "propagation of known falsehoods" and the use of "demonizing propaganda" against
LGBT people. AFA countered with the claim that the SPLC is not a reliable source.
American Vision American Vision is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1978 by Steve Schiffman. It operates as a
Christian ministry, and calls for "equipping and empowering Christians to restore America's biblical foundation."
Gary DeMar has been the organization's president since 1984. Their website promotes
Christian Reconstructionism and
Postmillennialism, and opposes
dispensationalism. The Southern Poverty Law Center labels American Vision an anti-gay hate group due to its support of the "
death penalty for practicing homosexuals".
Americans for Truth About Homosexuality Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) is an organization founded by
Peter LaBarbera, which describes itself as "dedicated to exposing the homosexual activist agenda". In 2010, AFTAH was designated an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which said "AFTAH is notable for its posting of the utterly discredited work of Paul Cameron (of the
Family Research Institute), who has claimed that gays and lesbians live vastly shorter lives than heterosexuals".
Atlah Worldwide Church Center for Family and Human Rights The
Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) is a
United States–based
research institute/
think tank, founded in 1997, in order to monitor and affect the policy debate at the
United Nations and other international institutions. It was formerly known as the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. The
501(c)(3) organization describes its own mission as "to defend life and family at international institutions and to publicize the debate". The SPLC has characterized the institute as being "heavily focused on global anti-LGBT work", citing its opposition to
United Nations efforts to protect
LGBT rights and to study and prevent anti-LGBT violence, and praise of American anti-gay activist
Scott Lively.
Chalcedon Foundation The
Chalcedon Foundation is an American
Christian Reconstructionist organization founded by
Rousas John Rushdoony. It is named after the
Council of Chalcedon. The Chalcedon Foundation has been listed by the SPLC in 2012.
Church Militant Church Militant, also known as Saint Michael's Media, was founded by
ex-gay traditionalist Catholic
Michael Voris, is an "Ultra-orthodox Catholic propaganda outlet" which pushes an "anti-LGBT agenda" according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Hatewatch's 2018 article details that:Church Militant has also advocated for so-called reparative therapy, better known as gay conversion therapy, which seeks to "cure" homosexuals of their gayness. After the Southern Poverty Law Center sued a New Jersey–based conversion therapy organization and won, the court ruling that Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing (JONAH) must cease its operations, Church Militant decried the ruling, calling the plaintiffs guilty of dishonesty.The group has been repudiated by the Catholic Church and has no official affiliation with them and is not an approved Catholic ministry or
apostolate.
Dove World Outreach Center Dove World Outreach Center is a 50-member
non-denominational charismatic Christian church in
Gainesville,
Florida led by pastor
Terry Jones and his wife, Sylvia. The church first gained notice during the late 2000s for its public displays and
criticism of Islam and
gays, and was designated as a hate group by the SPLC. In January 2013 effigies of President Obama and President Clinton were burned to protest their abortion and pro-LGBT policies. The Gainesville Sun reported that Terry Jones was fined by the city for the unauthorized fire.
Faithful Word Baptist Church Faithful Word Baptist Church is a United States–based
fundamentalist Baptist church in
Tempe, Arizona. The church is
King James Bible only Steven L. Anderson established the church in December 2005 and remains its pastor. In August 2009, the church received national attention when Anderson shared that he was praying for the death of President
Barack Obama in his sermons. The SPLC has listed the church as an anti-gay hate group, noting that Pastor Anderson described gays as "
sodomites" who "recruit through
rape", and "recruit through
molestation". A few days after the listing, Pastor Anderson stated "I do hate homosexuals, and if hating homosexuals makes our church a hate group, then that's what we are." In the late 1980s, the FRC officially became a division of Dobson's main organization,
Focus on the Family, but after an administrative separation, the FRC became an independent entity in 1992.
Tony Perkins is the current president. The FRC promotes what it considers to be traditional
family values, by advocating and lobbying for
socially conservative policies. It opposes and lobbies against
LGBT rights,
abortion,
divorce,
embryonic stem-cell research, and
pornography. The FRC is affiliated with a
501(c)(4) lobbying
PAC known as FRC Action. In May 2010, Sprigg publicly suggested that repealing
Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy would encourage molestation of heterosexual service members. In November FRC President Perkins was asked about Sprigg's comments regarding the criminalization of same-sex behavior: he responded that criminalizing homosexuality is not a goal of the Family Research Council. Perkins repeated the FRC's association of gay men with pedophilia, saying that "If you look at the American College of Pediatricians, they say the research is overwhelming that homosexuality poses a danger to children." Some scientists whose work is cited by the American College of Pediatricians – a small conservative organization which was formed when the
American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed adoption by same-sex couples – have said that it has distorted and misrepresented their work. This is probably SYN, but looking at the dead link would help determine. --> Southern Poverty Law Center first designated the FRC as a hate group in 2010. Thereafter the FRC disputed the designation, with President Tony Perkins posting a comment on FRC's website.
Family Research Institute The
Family Research Institute (FRI), originally known as the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality (ISIS), is an American
non-profit organization based in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, which states that it has "...one overriding mission: to generate empirical research on issues that threaten the traditional family, particularly homosexuality,
AIDS, sexual social policy, and
drug abuse". The FRI is part of a movement of small, often faith-based organizations (sometimes called the
Christian right) which seek to influence the political debate in the United States. They seek "...to restore a world where marriage is upheld and honored, where children are nurtured and protected, and where homosexuality is not taught and accepted, but instead is discouraged and rejected at every level." The Family Research Institute is designated a hate group by the SPLC for propagating falsehoods about LGBT people. Paul Cameron's studies about homosexuals have been "utterly discredited". Cameron has been removed from professional and scholarly organizations and his studies have been met with formal resolutions passed against him. The two organizations are closely linked with overlap of their membership and their work to spread
disinformation to influence healthcare providers, legal professionals, and the public to
oppose transgender rights and promote harmful practices such as
conversion therapy. They have promoted various anti-transgender rights bills throughout the US and
United Kingdom.
Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (HOME or H.O.M.E.) is an anti-
homosexuality organization founded by Wayne Lela and based in
Downers Grove, Illinois, United States. The organization's aim is "to use science, logic, and natural law to expose all the flaws in the arguments homosexuals (and bisexuals) use to try to justify homosexual activity." On November 22, 2010, the SPLC designated the organization an anti-gay hate group "based on their propagation of known falsehoods". According to the SPLC, Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment "is entirely focused on the alleged evils of homosexuality [and] attacks gay people on a wide variety of levels." The organization also has a sister organization,
Illinois Family Action, founded in 2010 it is active as a
501(c)(4) lobbying organization in the state of Illinois. The organization's executive director is David E. Smith, who succeeded
Peter LaBarbera in 2006. The Illinois Family Institute was designated an anti-gay hate group in 2009 by the SPLC, on the grounds that it is "heavily focused on attacking gay people and homosexuality in general."
MassResistance MassResistance is a
Massachusetts anti-gay group that promotes
socially conservative positions primarily on issues surrounding
homosexuality, the
transgender community and
same-sex marriage. It was formed in 1995 as a consolidation of the
Parents' Rights Coalition, turned into the Article 8 Alliance in 2003, and adopted the current name in 2006. The group has criticized former Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney for not opposing same-sex marriage, and says it fights against students in public schools being taught about homosexuality. Since March 2008, the SPLC has listed MassResistance as an anti-gay "Active U.S. Hate Group" based on "their propagation of known falsehoods—claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities."
Mission: America Mission: America is an organization started in 1995 by Linda Harvey which the group's mission states is "cover[ing] the latest cultural and social trends in our country and what they might mean for Christians." A particular focus of the organization's articles is on the issue of
homosexuality. The SPLC designated Mission: America as a hate group in March 2012 based on its particular anti-
LGBT rights stances.
Pacific Justice Institute Pacific Justice Institute is a conservative legal advocacy organization based in Sacramento, California, active in anti-LGBT and
anti-vaccination issues. PJI was declared an
anti-LGBT hate group in 2014 by the
Southern Poverty Law Center due to the group's long history of
anti-LGBT rhetoric through its founder.
Parents Action League Parents Action League is an organization started in 2010 to protest proposed changes in the
Anoka-Hennepin (Minnesota) School District 11 policy which had limited discussions of
lesbian,
gay,
bisexual, and
transgender (
LGBT) issues in district classrooms. The SPLC designated the organization as an anti-gay hate group in March 2012 because it spread damaging propaganda about LGBT people. , the Public Advocate of the United States has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-gay activism.
SaveCalifornia.com SaveCalifornia.com is a United States nonprofit organization founded by Randy Thomasson in 1999, with a stated goal of "defending and representing the values of parents, grandparents and concerned citizens who want what's best for this generation and future generations." Thomasson has been involved in influencing social policies in government since 1994, through various media outlets. SaveCalifornia.com opposed California's
FAIR Education Act. In 2011, Thomasson described the bill as "Sexual brainwashing" and called for "parents to remove their children from the government school system, and get them into the safe havens of church schooling and home schooling." In March 2012, the SPLC added SaveCalifornia.com to its list of anti-gay hate groups. Its founder and pastor, Donnie Romero, garnered national attention in 2016 for celebrating the
Pulse nightclub shooting in
Orlando, a location popular with LGBT people, stating that God should finish the job, and referring to the murdered patrons as "sodomites", "perverts" and "pedophiles". In January 2019, pastor Romero resigned from his position after an internal investigation revealed that he had broken church doctrine by hiring prostitutes, cheating on his wife, engaging in gambling, and consuming alcohol and drugs. He was replaced by pastor Jonathan Shelley. In June 2022, pastor Dillon Awes conducted a hate sermon where he openly stated all gay people should be executed immediately by a gun shot to the back of the head.
Traditional Values Coalition The
Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) is an
American conservative Christian organization that represents, by its estimate, over 43,000
Christian churches throughout the United States. Headquartered in
Washington, D.C., its belief is in Bible-based traditional values as "[a] moral code and behavior based upon the Old and New Testaments." The group considers traditional values to include a belief "that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the Lord has given us a rule book to live by: The Bible" and a commitment to "living, as far as it is possible, by the moral precepts taught by Jesus Christ and by the whole counsel of God as revealed in the Bible." The organization was founded by the Reverend
Louis P. Sheldon who is the current chairman. His daughter Andrea Sheldon Lafferty is the executive director. The Traditional Values Coalition has been labeled an anti-gay hate group for spreading "known falsehoods—claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities—and repeated, groundless name-calling".
United Families International United Families International (UFI) is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1978 by Susan Roylance UFI works on an international scale to influence public policy toward "maintaining and strengthening the family". The organization is not affiliated with any religious organizations, governments or political parties. UFI has
NGO status with
ECOSOC and works to educate
United Nations (UN) ambassadors and delegates on family related issues. UFI also operates a website, DefendMarriage.org. UFI under Roylance was actively involved in promoting "traditional family values" at the Beijing Conference in the mid-1990s. Roylance characterized the conference as a "wakeup call for those who believe the traditional family unit to be an important basic unit of society". The SPLC designated United Families International as an anti-gay hate group in March 2012. In their
Guide to Family Issues, UFI, considered by some to be part of the
Christian right and a
Mormon organization, makes a number of claims about homosexuality, including: • "Discrimination on the basis of gender or race is vastly different from discrimination on the basis of sexual practice." • "Pedophilia is widespread among the homosexual community." • "Reputable studies and decades of successful treatment show that homosexual behavior can be changed." • "It is not marriage, but women in marriage, that help to contain and channel the male sexual appetite." • "In fact it is more compassionate to discourage homosexuality than to tolerate it."
Westboro Baptist Church , with the group's signature rainbow-colored picket signs The
Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American church based in
Topeka, Kansas, founded by
Fred Phelps. The Westboro Baptist Church is known for its extreme ideologies, especially for those which are
against homosexuality. The church is widely described as a hate group and it is monitored as such by the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the
Southern Poverty Law Center. It primarily consists of members of the large family of its founder, the late Fred Phelps; in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members. The church is headquartered in a residential neighborhood on the west side of Topeka about three miles west of the Kansas State Capitol. Its first
public service was held on the afternoon of Sunday, November 27, 1955. The church has been actively involved in the anti-gay movement since at least 1991 when it sought a crackdown on homosexual activity in
Gage Park six blocks northwest of the church. In addition to anti-gay protests at military funerals, the organization pickets other celebrity funerals and public events that are likely to give it media attention. The WBC is not affiliated with any known
Baptist convention or association and the two largest Baptist denominations, the
Baptist World Alliance and the
Southern Baptist Convention have both denounced the WBC over the years. The church describes itself as following
Primitive Baptist and
Calvinist principles. The church runs numerous Web sites including GodHatesFags.com and GodHatesAmerica.com, which all condemn homosexuality. The group bases its work around its belief which is expressed in its best known slogan and the address of its primary Web site, God Hates Fags, which asserts that every tragedy in the world is linked to homosexuality—specifically society's increasing tolerance and acceptance of the so-called
homosexual agenda. The group believes that God hates gays above all other kinds of "sinners" and it also believes that homosexuality should be a
capital crime. Its views on homosexuality are partially based on teachings which are found in the
Old Testament, specifically in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, which they interpret to mean that homosexual behavior is detestable. The ADL describes the Westboro Baptist Church as being "virulently
homophobic", but according to the ADL, its anti-homosexual rhetoric is often a cover for
antisemitism,
anti-Americanism,
racism, and
anti-Catholicism. The SPLC added the Westboro Baptist Church to its list of hate groups in 2010.
World Congress of Families World Congress of Families is a United States organization that promotes
Christian right values internationally. It opposes
same-sex marriage,
pornography, and
abortion, while supporting a society built on "the voluntary union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage". WCF comprises organizations in several countries, and most of its member partners are strongly active campaigners for
pro-life positions and specific
Christian views on marriage that oppose same-sex marriage. WCF was formed in 1997 and is active worldwide, regularly organizing "large international 'pro-family' conventions". Its opposition to gay marriage and
abortion has attracted criticism. It was added to the list of anti-LGBT hate groups in February 2014 for its involvement with the 2013
Russian LGBT propaganda law and opposing
LGBT rights internationally.
You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCRBYCHI) was a United States–based organization which identified itself as a Christian
youth ministry that held assemblies, including music concerts and discussions with students, in
public schools. Founded by Bradlee Dean, the organization was based in
Annandale, Minnesota. YCRBYCHI's mission statement was: "To reshape America by re-directing the current and future generations both morally and spiritually through education, media, and the
Judeo-Christian values found in our U.S. Constitution." The organization garnered letters of support from school personnel, as well as some religious and political figures. It also drew controversy for using assemblies for religious purposes, misleading school administrators about the nature of the program, and proselytizing its views on
abortion and
homosexuality. The SPLC designated the organization as an anti-gay
hate group in March 2012. In addition to "rhetoric about executing gays and lesbians", You Can Run But You Cannot Hide's president and CEO, Bradlee Dean, has stated that homosexuals "on average, they molest 117 people before they're found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?" In response to media coverage, Dean has written an editorial alleging that his statements were taken out of context, and produced a video which sought to rebut the media's reporting on his statements. The SPLC linked Dean, among other anti-gay hate group leaders, to
nativist movements that made an increase in numbers on their hate groups list. ==See also==