Joining the chorus of anti-gay conservatives blaming the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “hate group” labels for Wednesday’s tragic shooting at the Family Research Council, internet evangelist Bill Keller has threatened to sue the SPLC for $100 million if it does not take him and his ministry LivePrayer.com off its “hate group” list:

KELLER: The sad shooting the other day at the Family Research Council by a man who supports the radical homosexual agenda, was clearly fueled by the left wing group, the Southern Poverty Law Center. I receive at least 4-5 death threats a month for taking a Biblical stand on issues like homosexuality, the false religion of Islam and other cults, and the fact life begins at conception and choosing to end that life is nothing more than legalized infanticide.

Groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center give license to individuals who oppose a Biblical worldview to take whatever actions they deem fit, even acts of violence, to silence those they disagree with. Sadly, this intimidation has worked, because there are very few like myself who are willing to go into the mainstream media and promote Biblical Truth that a large percentage of society now rejects.

In the year 2012, if you take a Biblical stand, the media and groups like the SPLC identify you as a ‘hate group.’ Because the anti-God secular media gives a platform to radical organizations like the SPLC, it opens the door for people who reject Biblical Truth to commit acts of violence against those individuals and organizations who have been demonized by them.

Like all others before him this week, Keller’s claims are a bogus strawman, focusing only on the label of “hate group” instead of the valid need for such a label. The SPLC classifies Keller under its “General Hate” category for the dangerous positions he takes on various issues. Last October, he blamed the LGBT community for the suicide of Canadian gay teenager Jamie Hubley, calling openly gay people “brainwashed” and claiming it is those who “glorify this deviant, unnatural, and unhealthy choice of sexual activity, who are most responsible for Hubley’s death.” He went on to describe homosexuality as “a bondage like alcohol, drugs, gambling, or anything else people get addicted to.” His latest campaign is encouraging people to “Write in the Name of Jesus for President,” because Barack Obama is “the most pro-death President in history” and “an enemy of God and a true tool of satan.”

Should Keller follow through on his outlandish threat to sue, his complaint will likely be dismissed as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). The SPLC uses direct quotes to inform its designations, so any allegation of defamation would be without foundation.

Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center has responded to accusations by the Family Research Council and other anti-gay groups that its labeling of hate groups is “incendiary” and that it provided “license” to the gunman to attack FRC Wednesday and must be “held to account.” Mark Potok, Senior Fellow at the SPLC, called Tony Perkins’ accusation “outrageous” and explained how the exploitation of this tragedy creates a false equivalence between criticism of anti-gay rhetoric and condemnations of gay people:

Perkins’ accusation is outrageous. The SPLC has listed the FRC as a hate group since 2010 because it has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people — not, as some claim, because it opposes same-sex marriage. The FRC and its allies on the religious right are saying, in effect, that offering legitimate and fact-based criticism in a democratic society is tantamount to suggesting that the objects of criticism should be the targets of criminal violence.

As the SPLC made clear at the time and in hundreds of subsequent statements and press interviews, we criticize the FRC for claiming, in Perkins’ words, that pedophilia is “a homosexual problem” — an utter falsehood, as every relevant scientific authority has stated. An FRC official has said he wanted to “export homosexuals from the United States.” The same official advocated the criminalizing of homosexuality.

Perkins and his allies, seeing an opportunity to score points, are using the attack on their offices to pose a false equivalency between the SPLC’s criticisms of the FRC and the FRC’s criticisms of LGBT people. The FRC routinely pushes out demonizing claims that gay people are child molesters and worse — claims that are provably false. It should stop the demonization and affirm the dignity of all people.

Indeed, as ThinkProgress and many others have pointed out, there’s nothing incendiary about calling hateful rhetoric what it is. Rather than taking umbrage for the designation, groups like FRC and the American Family Association should be “held to account” for the lies and fear they spread that earned them the “hate group” moniker in the first place.

Bryan Fischer, voice of the AFA.

The National Organization for Marriage set a bad precedent blaming the label of “hate groups” for the shooting that took place Wednesday at the Family Research Council. Now, Bryan Fischer has taken exploitation of this tragedy to a whole new level in a statement written on behalf of the American Family Association. Fischer characterized the organization’s condemnation of homosexuality as “love,” which could only be perceived as “hate” by those who “hate the truth.” In addition to irresponsibly speculating about the shooter’s motives, Fischer outright blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for the tragedy:

But the SPLC, by their own hateful and malicious rhetoric against FRC and AFA, has essentially claimed responsibility for this shooting, and they too should be held to account in the court of public opinion.

SPLC claims it only lists organizations as “hate groups” if they engage in the “propagation of known falsehoods” about homosexuality. But the SPLC website itself lists numerous falsehoods about homosexuality. For instance, the SPLC says, without a single shred of proof, that homosexuals are born that way, that it is impossible to leave the gay lifestyle, and that homosexuals are not at elevated risks of depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders.

Like FRC, AFA is classified as a hate group, and Fischer provided a prime example of the harmful lies that warrant such a designation. In spite of his claim that there is not “a single shred of proof,” decades of psychological research have demonstrated that nobody’s sexual orientation is chosen, nor can any sexual orientation be changed. More importantly, when people come out as gay, lesbian, bi, or trans, the best way to support those individuals’ mental health is to affirm their identities. Study after study after study has shown that it is stigma, bullying, rejection, and condemnation — the “values” these groups promote — that cause the heightened risks of depression and substance abuse. Fischer doesn’t actually care about the well-being of LGBT people; he works to maintain hetero-supremacy in society by reinforcing the very fraudulent ideas that harm LGBT people. It’s exactly such known falsehoods that inform SPLC’s “hate group” designations.

AFA and NOM have made it explicitly clear that they intend to politically exploit the tragedy of a shooting to somehow excuse the harmful rhetoric they spew daily. There seem to be no bounds to the lengths they will go to condemn people just for being gay.

The Masonic Lodge at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum.

Last month, the taxpayer-funded Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum denied a request by Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key to rent the museum’s Masonic Hall for their commitment ceremony. Citing legal advice from state Attorney General Jim Hood from 2009, the museum argued that because same-sex marriage isn’t recognized in Mississippi, it could deny the couple use of its facilities since it wouldn’t be “legal.” Now, after intervention from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Hood has dispensed new legal guidance.

Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith announced the change, but made it clear she isn’t happy about it:

HYDE-SMITH: In late July, my office received a letter from Attorney General Hood advising that under Mississippi law, the application could not be refused. Based on my personal and religious beliefs, I strongly object to this, but I have no alternative, due to this advice, but to allow the processing of this permit to move forward. This process contains multiple steps and is currently not finalized.[...]

While this same-sex couple’s request for a permit to utilize one of our state’s facilities for a “commitment ceremony” is not being defined as a marriage ceremony, it is personally troubling for me. Furthermore, based on the legal advice from the Attorney General and the lack of clarity of state law regarding usage of state facilities for these kinds of activities, the legal grounds to deny this request were not found by the Attorney General because the ceremony is, not on its face a violate of state law.

Hyde-Smith called on the legislature to remedy the perceived lack of clarity, essentially requesting that the state enshrine public accommodations discrimination against same-sex couples into law. Lt. Gov Tate Reeves (R) also released a statement objecting to the change:

REEVES: I am disappointed in the decision to allow a permit for same-sex marriage at a taxpayer-subsidized facility to be considered. Attorney General Hood’s legal advice goes against the wishes of an overwhelming majority of Mississippians.

Just last week, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) says he doesn’t even believe same-sex couples are “couples.” Regardless of what Bryant, Reeves, Hyde-Smith or many Mississippians believe, at least two Mississippians will be able to celebrate a special day in a special way and it won’t affect anybody else’s lives whatsoever.

Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key

Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key wanted to rent the Masonic Hall at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum to hold a commitment ceremony, but were refused because they are a same-sex couple. Sturgis’ mother, Veronica Rodriguez, lamented that her daughter has been denied use of the “perfect venue”:

RODRIGUEZ: As a mother, I have dreamed of giving my daughter the wedding that she desires, and I want her to be able to get married in her hometown in front of our family and friends. We are not asking Mississippi to recognize Ceara and Emily’s relationship, although it should. We are just asking that they have the opportunity to hold a ceremony in a public place – the same as other couples.

The state-owned museum allows heterosexual couples to use the space for their ceremonies, but its director claims that it has a policy banning same-sex weddings and ceremonies. In 2009, State Attorney General Jim Hood released a letter stating that the museum can limit use of its facilities to events considered “legal” under state law. The Southern Poverty Law Center has come to the couple’s defense, arguing that the policy violates the First Amendment (with viewpoint discrimination) and the Fourteenth Amendment (with differential treatment).

Hood’s argument fails on its face. If it were true, then it would technically be illegal to have any kind of same-sex wedding or commitment ceremony. There is a difference between not recognizing same-sex unions and declaring them to be unlawful. What Hood seems to have suggested is that Sturgis and Key could be arrested simply by declaring their love for each other in front of their family and friends, which would obviously violate their right to free speech and expression. Given the growing number of religious denominations that recognize marriage equality, such a precedent would also be a clear violation of religious freedom.

For the state of Mississippi to declare that a same-sex commitment ceremony is unlawful behavior is an egregious attack on gay community and its personal liberties. It’s nothing more than a pathetic excuse for blatant anti-gay discrimination.

The Southern Poverty Law Center was quick to add its voice to those decrying the National Organization for Marriage’s confidential memos that recommend creating racial divisions to fight marriage equality, but directed its message directly at its black constituents:

Black folks, this is a message for you: The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the country’s preeminent group fighting against same-sex marriage, really, really likes you. They even want to make some of you famous!

Have NOM’s principal leaders, former president Maggie Gallagher and current leader Brian S. Brown, stood up for African Americans before? Well, not so much. But it turns out that they’ve decided that you’re actually very important.

It turns out that the SPLC had already planned to publish a separate post yesterday exposing how NOM avoids taking responsibility for its anti-gay messaging by simply linking to others’ antagonistic content on its blog:

Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown have repeatedly claimed that they are simply trying to protect marriage, that they bear no animus toward LGBT people or their sexual orientations. But again and again, signs of such animus have crept into the material issued by NOM: scary warnings about pedophilia, “addictive behavior,” “jihads” against Christians and so on. Now, as pressure ratchets up on opponents of same-sex marriage — Maryland this year became the eighth state to approve such unions, even as a federal judge found the anti-same-sex-marriage Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional — it remains to be seen whether NOM can avoid following other religious-right groups into a world of untrammeled hate.

What the confidential documents show is that NOM’s public relations are spun to sound innocent, but anti-gay animus is clearly the intent behind its race-wedging, parent-scaring tactics, just like it is for all of its conservative partners in crime. As Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said in his response, “Our nation was founded on the principle of liberty and justice for all people—regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. NOM is clearly opposed to these basic ideals that so many Americans hold dear.” In the past, diverse communities may have been fooled by NOM’s malicious ideas, but now is the time to unite for the equality and fair treatment of all people.