Opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians has been a central theme of Christian Right organizing and fundraising for the past three decades – a period that parallels the fundamentalist movement's rise to political power.
For Christian Right leaders, the gay rights movement and its so-called "homosexual agenda" are the prime culprits in the destruction of American society and culture. In the words of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, the battle against gay rights is essentially a "second civil war" to put control of the U.S. government in the right hands, meaning those who reject gay rights.
The religious right in America has employed a variety of strategies in its efforts to beat back the increasingly confident gay rights movement. One of those has been defamation. Many of its leaders have engaged in the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people as "perverts" with "filthy habits" who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and "convert" them to gay sex. They have disseminated disparaging "facts" about gays that are simply untrue — assertions that are remarkably reminiscent of the way white intellectuals and scientists once wrote about the "bestial" black man and his supposedly threatening sexuality.
With that in mind, here is the official list of groups that have attained national recognition as "Hate Groups."
Arizona City Chapter
Gilbert United Families International
Tempe Faithful Word Baptist Church
California City Chapter
Anaheim Traditional Values Coalition
Sacramento Save California
Vallecito Chalcedon Foundation
Colorado City Chapter
Colorado Springs Family Research Institute
District of Columbia City Chapter
Washington Family Research Council
Washington Traditional Values Coalition
Georgia City Chapter
Luthersville Sons of Thundr (Faith Baptist Church)
Powder Springs American Vision
Illinois City Chapter
Carol Stream Illinois Family Institute
Downers Grove Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment
Naperville Americans for Truth About Homosexuality
Kansas City Chapter
Topeka Westboro Baptist Church
Massachusetts City Chapter
Springfield Abiding Truth Ministries
Waltham Mass Resistance
Minnesota City Chapter
Annandale You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide
Champlin Parents Action League
Mississippi City Chapter
Tupelo American Family Association
New York City Chapter
Brooklyn Jewish Political Action Committee
Ohio City Chapter
Columbus Mission: America
Oklahoma City Chapter
Oklahoma City Windsor Hills Baptist Church
South Carolina City Chapter
Spartanburg True Light Pentecost Church
Texas City Chapter
El Paso Tom Brown Ministries
San Antonio Bethesda Christian Institute
Virginia City Chapter
Falls Church Public Advocate of the United States
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