A resolution passed at the Republican National Convention condemns the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for tracking hate groups in America.
The resolution does not denounce hate groups or prejudice and specifically defends an anti-LGBTQ hate group with deep ties to the Trump administration.
Related: Anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council is airing Chick-fil-A’s dirty laundry
“The actions of the SPLC have served to mobilize persons to act in hate and violence towards those on its ‘hate group’ list,” the resolution reads.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
It singles out the Family Research Council as an example of the dangers of SPLC’s list. A mentally disturbed gay man walked into the Washington DC offices of the group intent on killing the staff after seeing a photo of them posing behind a bunch of Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. A security guard stopped Corkins before the domestic terrorist attack could claim any victims.
“The Obama Administration legitimized the SPLC and acted upon their request that the federal government formally identify individuals and organizations as ‘hate groups’,” the complaint reads. “The SPLC was further legitimized when the Obama-Biden Administration gave them the ability to provide input to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”
“Legitimizing the SPLC puts conservative groups or voices at risk of attack.”
Officials in the department have said that several right-wing groups tracked by SPLC have the potential to be dangerous domestic terrorism threats to the United States. Many of them also have ties to conservative politicians and the Republican Party.
Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, is an ardent Trump supporter and has a longstanding personal and political friendship with Vice President Mike Pence. Most of the other anti-LGBTQ hate groups are also connected to the Vice President in one way or another.
Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang said the resolution is meant to “excuse the Trump administration’s history of working with individuals and organizations that malign entire groups of people — such as Black Lives Matter advocates, immigrants, Muslims and the LGBTQ community — with dehumanizing rhetoric.”
“While the Republican Party approved this resolution, notably, it did not denounce organizations that promote antisemitism, Islamophobia, neo-Nazis, anti-LGBT sentiment or racism. It only criticized the SPLC for challenging hate groups that have found a place in the Republican Party.”
“From the moment that Donald Trump ran for president,” she continued, “he welcomed the support of hate groups like the Family Research Council and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Once in office, Trump actively hired and consulted alumni and allies from FAIR, an anti-immigrant hate group that has ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists.”
