澳彩开奖

You鈥檙e a pedophile, they said.

You鈥檙e a danger, they said.

You鈥檙e a pervert, they said.

You need to be stopped, they said.

It was 2008, and a California court had just cleared the way for LGBTQ people, like Jeff and me, to marry 鈥� a move that prompted the Family Research Council to further spread its anti-LGBTQ hatred and lies.

I knew about the organization, along with the Alliance Defending Freedom (then known as the Alliance Defense Fund), but didn鈥檛 realize the extent of their LGBTQ hatred or how deeply it had already infiltrated the mainstream until later that year when 鈥� amid their cries that LGBTQ people were destroying their values 鈥� California鈥檚 Proposition 8 passed and stopped marriage equality in the state.

That鈥檚 the year I learned that their hate can look like your neighbors who leave anti-LGBTQ fliers under your door, family members who leave the Christmas dinner table when you sit down, business owners who use their religious beliefs to kick you out, strangers who loudly say 鈥渇a--ots鈥� before staring you down as you walk by, and death threats mailed to your office.

The FRC and ADF are now attempting to shift the narrative away from their history of hurting the LGBTQ community and doing more to divide families with LGBTQ family members than unite them. This weekend, a former FRC staffer, who currently works for the ADF, wrote an op-ed published in USA Today in which she defends the anti-LGBTQ organizations from the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 hate group designations and insists that the 澳彩开奖 is the real danger.

Let me be clear: The FRC and ADF are indeed hate groups. We define a hate group as an organization that, based on its official activities, beliefs, statements, principles or practices, attacks or maligns an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.

The FRC, for instance, continues to push its false narrative that gay men are pedophiles and that the LGBTQ community is attempting to indoctrinate children through projects like the 鈥淚t Gets Better鈥� campaign, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 part of a concerted effort to persuade kids that homosexuality is okay and actually to recruit them into that lifestyle.鈥� Meanwhile, the ADF is pushing an anti-transgender agenda and has recently supported the criminalization of LGBTQ people.

The organizations on our hate group list vilify others because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity 鈥� prejudices that strike at the heart of our democratic values and fracture society along its most fragile fault lines.

The op-ed writer attempts to dismiss the FRC鈥檚 and ADF鈥檚 attacks on the LGBTQ community by pointing to news stories about the 澳彩开奖, but there鈥檚 no excusing their vitriol and no justification for their hate that鈥檚 impacted millions nationwide.

Our work, especially our commitment and dedication to the communities we serve, has never been deterred, and it will keep driving us as we continue to look forward to truly model the change we want to see in the world.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed marriage equality nationwide in 2015, I鈥檝e increasingly heard leaders from anti-LGBTQ organizations like the FRC vilify the LGBTQ community.聽

I鈥檝e heard them call LGBTQ people like me names. And I鈥檝e heard those names echoed online and in the streets.

I鈥檓 not a pedophile. I鈥檓 gay.

I鈥檓 not a danger. I鈥檓 a pacifist.

I鈥檓 not a pervert. I鈥檓 a husband, a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend.

I鈥檓 not a terrorist. I simply want to live free from someone else鈥檚 hate.

Their attacks normalize attacks.

And that鈥檚 neither an 澳彩开奖 value nor mine.

Read the 澳彩开奖's response to the FRC and ADF's attack oped.

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