Homosexual militant Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out harasses a Boston church by screaming into a church window through a megaphone. The church was holding a seminar on overcoming homosexuality. Photo: MassResistance.org.

Folks, the audacity and hypocrisy of wicked homosexual activists — and Wayne Besen is just that — never cease to amaze me. Besen and his comically named “Truth Wins Out” — currently playing the victim — are all about defamation and anti-religious slander. He dehumanizes former homosexuals like PFOX’s Greg Quinlan by effectively claiming that they do not exist. (TWO’s propaganda tactic, which I call “Focus on the Failures,” presumes that all “ex-gays” are frauds because a few went back into the homosexual lifestyle; using such illogic, one could highlight ex-druggies who start abusing their bodies again as “proof” that there is no hope for anyone to leave drug addiction behind.)

The belligerent Besen regularly mocks me as “Porno Pete” — even on Barry Lynn’s live radio program [click HERE to listen] –  and then cries “Defamation!” when a good man like Greg recounts the venom that flows so effortlessly from Besen’s lips. Is it really a stretch to believe that Besen now is lying about the nastiness he hurled at Quinlan because he is embarassed by public exposure of his prodigious hatred? – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

____________________________________________________________

PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays Press Release (www.pfox.org)

E-mail: pfox@pfox.org

DATE: December 9, 2011; reprinted from PFOX website

PFOX Responds to Gay Hate Blogger’s Demands

Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), issued the following statement today in response to a press release emailed to PFOX on behalf of Wayne Besen, an anti-ex-gay blogger, from the paradoxically named “Truth Wins Out” (TWO) hate site: The press release referenced a letter signed by militant gay activist attorney Michael B. Hamar and demanded that Quinlan retract factual statements he recently made about Besen on WDCW-TV.

Greg Quinlan

“Once I was able to stop laughing and realized that the letter wasn’t intended to be parody, I thought: Okay; Wayno wants a response to his list of comical demands? Here’s my formal response: Grow up.”

“I’m not sure what law school Mr. Hamar went to, but apparently he missed class on the day his professor covered defamation. You see, truth is an absolute and affirmative defense to a charge of defamation. I know this and I’m not even a lawyer.”

“First of all, Besen blatantly mischaracterized what I actually said on the program, claiming that I suggested he solicited my assassination. This is a bald-faced lie and Besen knows it. The truth is that Besen once said to me in a private conversation that someone should run me over with a bus or inject me with AIDS. Did I think he was serious? No. I knew it was just Wayne being Wayne; one part bluster, two parts hyperbole and three parts hot air.”

“Furthermore, the letter claims that my comments were ‘most damaging to [Besen’s] reputation and adversely impact his career.’  More nonsense. This presupposes a faulty premise. To harm Besen’s reputation, he would have to first have a reputation – a good one anyway. Nothing I could ever say would do more damage to Wayne’s reputation than he’s already done on his own.”

“This is the same Christian-hating Wayne Besen that once trespassed on a church property, placed a bullhorn to the window and began screaming through it while peaceful churchgoers prayed and worshiped inside. (And before he lodges another empty defamation threat, we have the video.)”

“This is the same Wayne Besen that once came to the Ex-Gay Educators Caucus exhibit booth during the NEA convention in Orlando, Florida, knocked brochures off the table and bullied the women at the booth. He also snapped their picture several times.”

“After being politely asked to leave, Wayne refused and continued to intimidate and harass the women. We notified authorities that we were concerned he might become more violent. I stepped between Wayne and the women and he began screaming and cursing at me, dropping the ‘F bomb’ over and over. (Again, before he threatens another silly lawsuit; we have witnesses.)

“I suggested at the time that perhaps Wayne’s attitude had something to do with his firing from the Human Rights Campaign. He lost it; shook his fist in my face and cursed me out. Authorities then escorted him from the event and barred him from the convention hall under threat of arrest.”

“Wayne Besen represents the perfect example of those who demand tolerance the most but possess it the least. Retract my comments? Not a chance.”

“Now, Wayne Besen threatens me and PFOX with a frivolous lawsuit. Now this bigoted, anti-Christian hatemonger is worried about his reputation being sullied? Cry me a river.”

“So, Wayne, if you really feel you must waste money you could be using to bash ex-gays, bully Christian churchgoers and spread the lie that people who are trapped in unwanted homosexuality can never escape it, I say knock yourself out. We’re happy to countersue and expose the hundreds of smears you and TWO have lodged against me and other pro-family advocates. Smears that actually amount to defamation.”

“Little man, I’m calling your bluff.”

Pastor John Kirkwood of Grace Gospel Fellowship church in Bensenville, IL.

We are catching up on posting AFTAH Radio Hour interviews. The following is Part Two of my interview with Pastor John Kirkwood [click HERE to listen] of Grace Gospel Fellowship (www.gracebeliever.com) church in Bensenville, Illinois. It aired October 1, 2011. (Listen to Part One HERE.) Kirkwood describes what got him involved in the movement to resist the pro-homosexuality agenda: watching the angry homosexual protests against Mormon churches due to the Mormons’ leading role in fighting Prop 8 (an amendment to preserve traditional, man-woman marriage in California). John, who describes himself as an Acts 17:11 Christian, has a radio show on WYLL-1160 AM Chicago at noon on Sunday, “In the Arena.” He describes how homosexual activists are ripping off Christianity, from stealing the rainbow and turning it into a symbol of “gay pride” — to singing “This Little Light of Mine” — a song taught to young children about believing in Jesus Christ — to celebrate “coming out” (declaring one’s homosexuality publicly). I discuss the boundless perversions of proud homosexuality, citing this San Francisco photo. Kirkwood says that because Christians are so biblically illiterate, in the realm of sexuality (and other areas) the Church is “becoming the world…There is a vacuum in the Church of integrity.” He discusses Romans 1, evolution and homosexuality, and the idea that Bible-believing Christian speech is causing ”gay youth” suicides. Kirkwook also addresses one of the common cliches homosexuals use against Christians, such as the common line, “Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.” – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

10-01-11, John Kirkwood, Part Two

Ex-lesbian Janet Boynes was shown in the ABC piece by investigative reporter Brian Ross, but he did not "investigate" her story of leaving lesbianism with God's help.

Folks, it sure didn’t take long for the liberal media to go into Christian-bashing mode against GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Watch this almost comically biased hit-piece by ABC’s Brian Ross — featuring the militantly anti-Christian homosexual organization Truth Wins Out. (TWO denies the reality that people can leave homosexuality behind; I call them “Focus on the Failures” because their nonsensical argument seems to be that since many practicing “gays” fail in their quest to change, transformation away from homosexuality is a myth.)

Incredibly, ABC even went so far as to title its piece “Pray Away the Gay at Bachmann Clinic?” — recycling TWO founder Wayne Besen’s mocking and bigoted attack-slogan for the idea that people can overcome homosexual desires through faith in God. Shouldn’t it have occurred to Ross to sit down with and interview a SUCCESSFUL former homosexual like Janet Boynes, who:

1. lives near Minneapolis, where the Bachmanns’ counseling clinic is located;
2. was mentioned in the story — the undercover TWO “investigative reporter” ominously cites a copy of Janet’s book, “Called Out,” endorsed by Dr. Bachmann;
3. is a happy FORMER lesbian who endeavors to help others out of homosexuality, and who credits God for the power to change?  

We confirmed that no ABC reporter contacted Boynes for their story on the Backmann clinic. I don’t have much hope of changing ABC [but you can contact them HERE]; they and most of the secular “mainstream” media are for all practical purposes a part of Gay Inc. at this point. But let’s use this unfair hit-piece to highlight the truth: that people like Janet Boynes and Linda Jernigan — who once thought they were “gay” — can and do leave homosexuality behind, often through the “Amazing Grace” of Jesus Christ. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

See my comments in bold below in Cliff Kincaid’s excellent Accuracy in Media story (all emphasis added):

________________________________________

Media Guns Fire Blanks at Bachmann

By: Cliff Kincaid, [reprinted from Accuracy in Media] |  July 12, 2011  

Once a greatly feared investigative reporter, Brian Ross has been reduced to recycling left-wing material from the homosexual lobby. But the pathetic hit job he narrated on Monday’s ABC Nightline show on GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has backfired in a big way. The charge was that the Bachmann family counseling service engages in terrible things by teaching homosexuals how to leave their disease-ridden lifestyle.

Ross called this method of counseling, which emphasizes religious conversion, “highly controversial” and said it “could become a campaign issue.” Ironically, however, he presented evidence that ex-homosexuals do in fact exist

It is a sign of the dominance of the homosexual lobby in the media business that such a program would even be aired. The upcoming National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association convention features “Today” show co-anchor Ann Curry and CNN’s Don Lemon as keynote speakers.

The ABC piece, “Michele Bachmann Clinic: Where You Can Pray Away the Gay?,” was constructed in such a way as to suggest that ex-homosexuals are non-existent, even though the Brian Ross report itself noted the presence of books by a “self-proclaimed ex-lesbian” in the counseling center. A video from the ex-lesbian, Janet Boynes, was even shown briefly on the air. This was supposed to be shocking.

Of course, the notion of the Bible condemning homosexual behavior, reflected in several passages, was viewed as bizarre and intolerant.

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth says the phrase, “pray away the gay,” is intended to ridicule Christians and comes directly from homosexual activist Wayne Besen’s group, Truth Wins Out. LaBarbera asks, “Why are the major media repeating these hateful attack slogans by radical gay activists?”

He explains, “We don’t mock the idea of leaving drug addiction or alcoholism with God’s help. Why is it acceptable to mock faith in God to overcome unwanted behaviors like homosexuality in their lives?”

“Wayne Besen’s thesis is that ex-gays don’t exist,” noted LaBarbera. But Janet Boynes is a real person and absolute proof that one can leave the homosexual lifestyle.

Perhaps without realizing it, Ross has presented evidence of the homosexual “change” that he was trying to discredit.

“The homosexual lobby simply can’t deal with the reality that ‘gays’ can change (usually with God’s help),” LaBarbera adds. His group recently hosted an event with another ex-lesbian, Linda Jernigan.

To make matters worse, the ABC hit piece was largely recycled leftist material. Ross borrowed heavily from Truth Wins Out (TWO) and an article in The Nation magazine, in order to concoct the shaky story.

Since the segment was light on anything truly horrifying, he used film footage from a Truth Wins Out operative who had secretly taped a counselor for the Bachmann service. This had the effect of making everything look sinister. The apparently shocking advice to the undercover homosexual operative was that heterosexuality is natural and homosexuality is not. This is what passes for “investigative journalism” these days.

“ABC’s Brian Ross did a terrific job with this Nightline segment…” declared TWO executive director Wayne Besen.

As such, Ross can expect to be nominated for an award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which honors pro-homosexual coverage.

The Brian Ross hit piece follows an attack on the popular Congresswoman by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone magazine,”Michele Bachmann’s Holy War,” where he smeared Bachmann as “a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions.”

Blogger Trevor Loudon disclosed that Taibbi was the recipient of an award from the Democratic Socialists of America in Boston for his hard-left reporting.

Loudon commented, “Maybe Matt Taibbi should tell us about his own true beliefs. I’m betting he is not as open about his own convictions as Michele Bachmann is about hers.”

Now this is funny, from the conservative The Union News website (an outstanding anti-Left resource). AFGE is the American Federation of Government Employees; see this post on their attempt to unionize the TSA. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Barney Frank Resigns from Congress

AFGE organizing gig more fulfilling than House minority sweatshop

New York City homosexual activist Joe Jervis recklessly claims that the Americans For Truth Academy "will train young people how to properly hate faggots and dykes and foster violent crimes against them." Jervis, here protesting California's pro-traditional-marriage amendment, routinely conflates moral opposition to homosexuality with hatred.

Jervis wildly claims that the Americans For Truth Academy “will train young people how to properly hate faggots and dykes and foster violent crimes against them.”

Folks, it didn’t take too long for homosexual activists to smear the Americans For Truth Academy, which will be held in Carol Stream, Illinois, August 5-7. Here is one particularly inane and mean-spirited post by atheist “gay” leatherman Joe Jervis, who runs the blog “Joe.My.God.” With clockwork-like regularity, homosexual activists resort to their favorite lie: that civil speech opposing homosexuality in the public square leads to violence against homosexuals. (Such claims form the basis for demands to banish said speech; of course, vicious and nasty attacks on Christians somehow do not qualify as “hate” nor lead to violence against people of faith….)

Experienced pro-family followers of AFTAH who have read Jervis’ J.M.G. blog know that if there were such a thing as a Hate-O-Meter scale, few could hope to score as high as Joe and his perverted friends (see some examples of their bigoted bile below). Even so, after AFTAH’s website was labeled a “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center — on the recommendation of the Marxist, cop-hating, Christian-bashers over at Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network — Jervis and pals dutifully took up our challenge and labeled every pro-family group they could think of as also being a “hate” group. Get the message? Oppose homosexuality (publicly) and you are automatically a “hater.”

Per Jervis’ piece below, “Porno Pete” is a smear term against yours truly invented by another hypocritical homosexual militant, Wayne Besen, and circulated by fellow “gay” activists (who simultaneously condemn name-calling against homosexuals — go figure). One of the things we will teach at the ongoing AFTAH Academy is that while homosexual activists demand respect and tolerance from others, they consistently dish out vitriol and invective against their opponents — all the while cynically equating historic, Judeo-Christian moral truths with hate, bigotry and “homophobia.”

I challenge readers to get a sampling of the demented, ad hominem attacks that proliferate on Jervis’ homosexualist site and see if there is anything comparable on AFTAH’s website or that of any other mainstream, pro-family organization, such as Family Research Council. Go HERE for more info on the Academy. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

___________________________

Here’s Jervis’ twisted entry on the AFTAH Academy, followed by some hateful, perverted and intolerant comments responding to his item:

Porno Pete LaBarbera has just announced the formation of the “Americans For Truth Academy,” which will train young people how to properly hate faggots and dykes and foster violent crimes against them. For a mere $99 donation, you can buy a budding young bigot a Scholarship In Hate™.

… The usual cast of knuckle-dragging douchenozzles have signed on to be LaBarbera’s Professors of Hate: Robert Knight (Coral Ridge Ministries), Matt Barber (Liberty Counsel), Laurie Higgins (Illinois Family Institute), Greg Quinlan (PFOX), etc. The first Three Day Hate™ will take place August 5th-7th in Porno Pete’s luxuriously appointed basement dungeon headquarters outside of Chicago.

_________________________________________

Comments on Jervis’ site following article:

ANLAGUY:

How can that [the AFTAH Academy] be a tax deductable [sic] function? or is that just another lie they tell them so they will sign up? How can they have a seminar on [teaching] hate to people and the government NOT get involved.

———————–

INKKY JET:

HEIL!

I want to attend and watch the live demo with Porno Pete and Bam bam Barber [Matt Barber, an AFTAH Board Member and AFTAH Academy speaker] when they demonstrate sodomy and fisting; their two most favourite [sic] activities.

HEIL!

———————–

LYMIS:

“Okay, boys, pay attention. When someone touches you like THIS it’s really bad. Who needs to see that again?”

———————–

RICK CABRAL:

The important questions have yet to be asked! Will the pornmaster be sharing his rich cache of porno material? Will there be “helping hand” beat-off sessions during and afterwards? Are there shower facilities or must participants bring wetwipes and sanitizing lotion? How are attendees supposed to prepare properly without these clarifications?

Anything it takes: Truth Wins Out writer Evan Hurst slanders Mission America's Linda Harvey (above) -- and ALL Bible-believing Christians -- as "anti-Semitic at their core."

UPDATE: Evan Hurst of Truth Wins Out has issued a clarification in which he says he was mistaken to use the word “all” in his online statement: “Then again, all fundamentalist Christians are anti-semitic at their core, considering the fact that they actually believe their apocalyptical horseshit.”

Try as I might, I don’t think I could ever match the hatred that flows so naturally from the fingertips of “Truth Wins Out” (TWO) writer Evan Hurst. Granted, Hurst has a tall order rising to the Hate Quotient set by his boss and all-around Bad Boy of Buggery, Wayne Besen, but he’s really working hard to match Besen’s bluster. (By the way, Besen, who founded TWO, was an easy winner of AFTAH’s debut, 2009 “Gay Grinch of the Year” contest but due to unresolved copyright issues we never announced the winner; belated congrats, Wayne.)

Here’s Hurst turning a rant against my friend and Mission America founder Linda Harvey (and pro-family veteran Scott Lively) into a general attack on ALL Bible-believing Christians as “anti-Semitic.” Note the bold portion (our emphasis) in this comment found in the post, “TWO Exclusive: Linda Harvey’s Extremism On Display In Michigan”:

[Comment] # 14. Oh, and Linda, “Holocaust revisionism” does not only apply to direct anti-semitism. Of course, it could be argued that Scott Lively is anti-semitic since he co-opts the Holocaust in order to lie about gay people, to satisfy whatever mental illness he suffers from. In fact, yes, now that I think of it, his work IS anti-semitism, because it belittles the reality of the Holocaust in order to score points. And by supporting him, you are supporting that strain of anti-semitism.

(Then again, all fundamentalist Christians are anti-semitic at their core, considering the fact that they actually believe their apocalyptical horseshit.)

And you just parrot right along with it, because you’re too virulent to see that if your Jesus was here, he’d probably lay you out like the Pharisee you are.

Comment by Evan Hurst — March 29, 2010 @ 11:35 pm

My first impulse is to report Hurst and Truth Wins Out at once to the SPLC as bona fide haters for propounding such an obvious falsehood, but something tells me my complaint might get lost in the bureaucracy over there.

It’s easy to blame nasty and intolerant blog comments on crazed readers; after all, it’s soooo hard to keep track of each and every reader comment, we are told. But it’s much harder to explain away  “virulent” irrationality when the author is … one of your own writers! Surely Hurst is not unaware of the fact that the “fundamentalist” Christians he so obviously despises are historically a bastion of support for the State of Israel. (Probably just a cover for their internalized anti-Semitism, just as Christian conservatives’ opposition to homosexuality is a cover for their internalized homophobia.) Oh well. Something’s winning out over at TWO, but it’s not the “truth.” — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Homosexual activist Wayne Besen screams with a bullhorn into the window of Boston's Park Street Church, which was hosting an "ex-gay" seminar last April. Will the SPLC investigate virulent anti-Christian activists like Besen in its ostensible campaign against "hate"? How would the SPLC react if right-wing conservatives were to terrorize a homosexual church in the same way?

Well, now I think I’ve seen it all. A Chicago-based Marxist “direct action” group, the Gay Liberation Network (GLN) — which smears Chicago’s historic Moody Church as a “House of Hate,” attacks Catholic Cardinal Francis George as a “homophobe,” and compares the Boy Scouts to racist fringe groups  — has successfully lobbied the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to label AFTAH’s website a “hate site.” The GLN and its co-leader, Bob Schwartz, know a thing or two about hate: in 2005, Schwartz told me, as I was standing in opposition to a “gay youth” event in downtown Chicago, that he would have pushed me into the busy city street were it not for the presence nearby of my “friends,” the police. (Read my 2005 account as Executive Director for Illinois Family Institute HERE; imagine if I had made such a veiled, physical threat against Schwartz: I probably would have been arrested on “Hate Crime” charges right then and there.)

There are few things as sinister, and as cynical, as the Left’s manipulation of “hate” as a political weapon to malign Christians and patriotic, conservative Americans. Thankfully, it seems the only people taking the SPLC seriously anymore are the liberal media and hardened, ‘Move On’-types on the Left. The SPLC is a spent force when it comes to moral authority — and even some honest liberals are seeing through its disingenuous campaign to redefine morality as “hate” and “bigotry.” (Don’t look to the SPLC to investigate homosexual haters like Wayne Besen’s notoriously nasty “Truth Wins Out” anytime soon; Besen is shown at right screaming with a bullhorn into the window of Park Street Church in Boston; click here to read the MassResistance story on the shocking 2009 demonstration.)

GLN's Bob Schwartz knows about "hate" ....

The Left is so steeped in its own ideology and self-righteousness that it is oblivious to how out of step it is with everyday Americans. Sure, there are haters on the right like Fred (“God Hates Fags”) Phelps (who despicably pickets U.S. soldiers’ funerals, and whom AFTAH has repeatedly condemned). But there are far more haters on the Left, and they are much better organized and dangerous to American liberty than those on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

On behalf of Americans For Truth, I am gratified at the outpouring of support we have received from pro-family advocates across the country in response to the SPLC’s shenanigans. We’ll say it again: to defend historic Judeo-Christian moral norms is not “bigotry,” and to disagree with homosexual activists is not “hate.” You can contact the Southern Poverty Law Center HERE. God bless you. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org; e-mail us: americansfortruth@comcast.net>

Matt Barber’s statement on the SPLC follows the jump:

____________________________________

Statement by Matt Barber, Board Member, Americans For Truth, and Director of Cultural Affairs, Liberty Council:

Contact:  jmattbarber@comcast.net

Date: March 23, 2010

SPLC Fritters Away Last Traces of Credibility

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) – a far-left organization famous for promoting a panoply of extreme liberal causes – has launched yet another politically motivated attack against a well-respected conservative organization. The SPLC has arbitrarily tagged as a “hate group” Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH). Most recently, the SPLC came under fire for comparing the “Tea Party” movement and other grassroots conservatives to “terrorists.”

AFTAH is a Christian organization that promotes biblical morality and publicly decries both violence and hatred  against homosexuals. Although it has been in operation for a number of years, the SPLC only recently labeled AFTAH a “hate group,” after being pressured by the Chicago-based “Gay Liberation Network.” (GLN is a fringe group of self-described Marxists and sexual anarchists best known for disrupting peaceful Christian gatherings with raucous, bullhorn laden protests.)

Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel, commented: “You can only cry wolf so many times before people begin to ignore you. Newsflash: Moveon.org wants Bush tried as a ‘war criminal,’ Charlie Sheen thinks the U.S. government is behind 9/11 and, yes, the SPLC has once again awarded its now meaningless ‘hate group’ distinction to another conservative organization with which it  is admittedly – in every way – both politically and ideologically opposed. Who would’ve thunk it?

“In the past, the SPLC has actually done some good,” continued Barber. “By identifying and monitoring  real   hate groups such as the KKK, neo-Nazis, and Skinheads, the SPLC once provided information to local law enforcement which was sometimes useful in preventing and investigating subversive and violent activity.

“Unfortunately, in recent years the SPLC has traded in its limited usefulness for radical left-wing activism. It has become exactly   MUCH LIKE [??]  that which it previously sought to expose. It now uses the very tactics employed by white nationalists and other bona fide hate groups to malign large groups of people  whom the SPLC most decidedly ‘hates.’

“It’s nauseatingly transparent ,” said Barber. With empty, ad hominem attacks and pejorative ‘hate group’  smears, the SPLC strives to politically marginalize its ideological opponents. It’s a cynical ‘guilt-by-false-association ‘ scheme, through which the SPLC hopes – in the public mind’s eye – to equate Christians, ‘tea party’ conservatives and other traditionalists to the KKK and neo-Nazis.

“Amazingly, in going after Americans For Truth, the GLN  betrayed its SPLC ally by publicly acknowledging its nefarious strategy. It publicly boasted that this was the strategy all along.  The Gay Liberation Network’s stated goal in  goading  the SPLC  to  label AFTAH a ‘hate group’ was to ‘help assist’ in AFTAH’s ‘political marginalization.’ Of course, by kowtowing to an already deeply marginalized GLN; by so obviously abusing its once-respectable reputation; and by spending its last remaining political capital  on such folly, the SPLC has only succeeded in further marginalizing itself.

“It’s a ‘hate group,’ mudslinging good time!” joked Barber.  ” Let’s try it on for size. In exercise of the SPLC’s trademark ‘I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I’ criteria for determining ‘hate group’ status, I hereby declare the Southern Pov Law Center an officeal  ‘anti-Christian, anti-conservative hate group.’ Try it, it’s fun.

“But seriously,” continued Barber, “If AFTAH is a ‘hate group,’ then so is  Liberty Counsel, Focus on the Family, Family Research Council,  American Family Association, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church. Any group that observes and defends traditional sexual morality would have to be  labeled such . Heck, for that matter, so would the U.S. Armed Forces, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA. These groups publically expose the undeniable medical and societal pitfalls associated with the homosexual lifestyle and, therefore, must be ‘hate groups ,’  right?

“Of course, like any bully, the SPLC  only goes after those it believes it can push around. But really, it confers  an honor upon every legitimate Christian and conservative group  that it so disingenuously labels as a ‘hate group.’  This is a tacit admission by the SPLC that these groups represent a threat; that their activities undermine the SPLC’s not-so-thinly-veiled, left-wing agenda.

“I can’t speak for the organizations with which I’m a affiliated and, of course, I hate absolutely no one,” concluded Barber. “Nonetheless, I’d like to officially request that the SPLC add my name to its apurious ‘anti-gay hate list. ‘ It’s good for one’s biblical bona fides.”

(Matt Barber currently, and proudly, sits on the board of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.)