Republicans invite listed anti-gay hate group to testify to Congress
An anti-gay hate group that regularly compares gay rights to the Holocaust has been invited to testify to Congress on ‘religious freedom’.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council was invited to testify before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing this week by the GOP, to speak about “protecting religious freedom abroad”.
The group was invited despite being listed alongside the Ku Klux Klan and Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.
Perkins has been repeatedly condemned by the Jewish Anti-Defamation League for comparing gay rights to the Holocaust.
Last year he warned that Christian business owners who oppose gay rights are being sent to “concentration camps”, and called for the abolition of judges who rule in favour of same-sex marriage.
The SPLC states: “The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as ‘the leading voice for the family in our nation’s halls of power’, but its real speciality is defaming gays and lesbians.
“The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.”
Mr Perkins will speak before the subcommittee today.
