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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
Recently, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council published a piece in The Washington Post spouting his usual brand of anti-gay distortions.
And he was lambasted from all corners. From Box Turtle Bulletin, to Pam's House Blend, to Media Matters. Even those responding to his post pointed out Perkins's deceptive tactics of half-citing studies and relying on bad research.
Since I was ill yesterday, I missed the fun and games. It made me feel like Walter Payton finally making it to the Superbowl and not being able to score a touchdown.
But what happened yesterday was an unfortunate rare occurrence – a religious right figure caught red-handed publicly lying and called out for it. That's a problem to me. Why does it happen so rarely?
What Perkins tried to do yesterday was not an anomaly. It happens all of the time. In their talking points, on their web pages, and even in their so-called research papers (usually done by one of their phony experts), religious right groups distort legitimate science or rely on junk science to create a false image of the lgbt community.
And every time they do it, they need to be called on it. And someone needs to be keeping score.
So in that spirit, allow me to present past posts illustrating this point:
September 15,2010 – Perkins and the right-wing LifeSiteNews mischaracterize a study to make a claim that domestic violence happens at a high level in lgbt relationships.
August 13, 2010 – FRC employee Peter Sprigg claims that openly gay Obama appointee David Hansell will cut funds from states that don't allow gay adoption. Sprigg claims that “private sources” told him so. Strangely enough, original article where Sprigg made this claim, the right-wing CNSNews.com was pulled.
July 29, 2010 – The Family Research Council distorts the words of AIDS researcher Ronald Stall to make the case against the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act.)
July 6, 2010 – Sprigg pushes a pamphlet,The Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality,which not only repeats discredited anti-lgbt accuracies but exposes a bit of trickery on Sprigg's part. He cites only part of pro-lgbt information which talks about diseases and negative behaviors but omits the information which talks about how homophobia plays a part in these diseases and negative behaviors.
May 10, 2010 - The Family Research Council distorts the words of President Obama's director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management John Berry.
April 16, 2010 – Tony Perkins makes a false accusation that homosexuality and pedophilia are connected by using a Netherlands study which doesn't even prove his point.
January 7, 2010 – The Family Research Council exploits the presidential appointment of transgender Amanda Simpson to call ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) a “Crossdresser Protection Bill.”
November 23, 2009 – The Family Research Council was caught distorting Congresswoman Diana DeGette's words to make her seem like she was espousing religious bigotry.
November 18, 2009 – The Family Research Council spliced footage of then EEOC nominee Chai Feldblum to make the case against Obama choosing her.
October 27, 2009 – In an attack on lgbt seniors, the Family Research Council echoes the phony belief of Paul Cameron that lgbts don't live long enough to become elderly.
October 01, 2009 – In Congressional testimony, Perkins practices the “sin of omission” in his testimony against ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act).
May 20, 2009 – The Family Research Council pushes a fraudulent study, Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples. It's a bad study specifically because uses outdated work and compares married United States couples to unmarried gay couples in casual relationships from other parts of the world
7 Comments
Those very moral liarsThanks for researching this man’s lies and nonsense.
It’s both hilarious and pathetic that the self-styled moral guardians behave as if their god’s commandment against bearing false witness doesn’t apply to them. After all, their god obeys their orders, not the other way around.
They have no claim to, or understanding of, morality at all. History will judge them harshly, but in the here and now, they are hurting so many of us.
It Doesn’t Make Any DifferenceBoth Dan Savage and Ted Olson have called Perkins on his lies on national TV, and he just sits there blinking and licking his lips like a lizard that just swallowed a stinkbug, and on his next appearance he repeats the same BS.
The real issue is why someone like Perkins or his fellow-travelers are always called on to comment on gay civil rights in the first place. They don’t know anything about gays, they have an obvious agenda, and they don’t represent anyone but the 20% of the population that are still stuck in the eleventh century.
Maybe it’s the programmers who need to be challenged.
We know he’s a liar but…Ok, this stuff is great, but I’d like to see the sources of each lie and evidence to support it as such.
Tony Perkins is quite fond of taking “facts” out of context. If they are indeed lies, we should be able to easily point to the evidence that proves that.
There’s a pattern hereIn order to provide what they perceive as “balance,” mainstream media outlets like The Post, CNN, etc. roll out the loonies for their 10 minutes of fame, and they generally aren’t heard from anymore, once they are thoroughly discredited and exposed for what they are. This what is happening with Perkins now. A look at some previous go-to guys for “balance:” LaBarbera, Alan Keyes, etc. You don’t see these guys on CNN or writing a column for a newspaper anymore. LaBarbera likely can’t even get a Letter to the Editor published in the local hometown weekly.
They pretty much slide into obscurity as far as the media goes once they show themselves for what they are. And that is just what is happening to Perkins. HAHAHAHA!
Look at the linksEach date listed is a link to a post with evidence supporting the charges.
Perkins is a carrer politicianHe has no religious authority, yet people subscribe to his precious FRC as a religious authority. The FRC has made a rich living off of Christian Donations, namely by being an agent of deliberate and calculated misinformation specifically designed to be delivered in a religious context to influence pastors and congregations. Basically a radical Focus on the Family – without all the family stuff.
Well in their subscriber’s eyes they feel they are doing God’s work and all things pointing the facts out are nothing more than a ploy by the devil to influence elections – pretty much the entire aim of the FRC.
Their Research is home cooked and deliberately misleading. Because of Perkin’s deep ties with the heart of the Republican party, they have significant presence in Washington.
There should be a think tank that is dedicated to exposing hypocrisy in all it’s forms.
Tony Perkins and his sins of emission….With folks like Tony Perkins you have to realize that these are the same people who we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the have RentBoy.com in their computer browser, or they’re taking a gay hustler to Europe for some ‘contractual sex’, or they are picking up men in airport bathrooms (THE SENATOR IS IN!), or they are smoking crack cocaine with hustlers who are also smoking.
They are base hyprocrites who can’t keep their noses out of gay people’s crotches…..doesn’t take much to figure out!