# Southern Poverty Law Centre links Christian leaders’ anti-gay rhetoric to hate crimes **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 25, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388 "2005-05-25T03:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/41 "2005-05-27T16:44:14Z")
My statements weren’t rhetorical either. I he couldn’t counter direct quotes that spew hate with every word. It’s hard to “spin” such blatant extremist shit in any sort of favorable light. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/42 "2005-05-27T17:00:02Z")
> [@](#): > > After being expelled from the American Psychological Association in 1983 for violating ethical standards in his anti-gay publications Cameron began referring to himself as a sociologist — until the American Sociological Association passed a 1986 resolution declaring, “Paul Cameron is not a sociologist, and [this group] condemns his constant misrepresentation of sociological research.” Cameron thereafter referred to himself as a “crack-brained shithead,” until the American Association of Crack-Brained Shitheads filed an objection. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/43 "2005-05-27T20:06:05Z")
And his “evidence” was cited in a proposed bill to ban adoptions by gays in Texas as recently as last month. What drives me nuts: if you [google paul cameron](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=paul+cameron), the first two links (and several of the subsequent ones) are not to his Institute but to sites that _DISCREDIT_ him (and not just “we don’t like him so he must be wrong” sites- we’re talking sites that have PDFs of the documents expelling him from the APA and ASA, detailed dissections of his publications showing how and why he’s in gross error (and knows it), etc… He is that-frigging-easy to discredit, and yet I’ve read works by college professors (admittedly theologians rather than scientists) and politicians that use him as a “reliable” source. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/44 "2005-05-28T02:37:27Z")
I think the thread has died. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/45 "2005-05-28T04:38:23Z")
Just a quick question. Who or what is the Southern Poverty Law Center? Who funds them? Are they a governmental organization? Are they a democractic group insofar as they have members and elections? I get a little nervous when private groups running around labeling people and groups as “hate organizations”. Anyone shed some light on this organization? For the record, I agree with Potok but I’d like to know more about who and what his group is. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/46 "2005-05-28T05:06:39Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Just a quick question. Who or what is the Southern Poverty Law Center? Who funds them? Are they a governmental organization? Are they a democractic group insofar as they have members and elections? I get a little nervous when private groups running around labeling people and groups as “hate organizations”. Anyone shed some light on this organization? > > For the record, I agree with Potok but I’d like to know more about who and what his group is. It is a non-profit civil rights agency headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama and founded by Morris Dees. Probably their most publicized claim to fame was when they prosecuted the KKK for murder in the case of a Mobile hate-crime, received a $20 million verdict, and forced the organization into bankruptcy (they established legally a link between a Mobile AL Klan rally and the decision by an attendant to murder an innocent black man). The Klan’s national hq became the property of a black woman (mother of the victim), an irony she certainly never wanted but one which on some level seems just. They are not without controversy among right or left wing folk. I know personally many people associated with the group (I lived in Montgomery for 12 years) and I have very mixed opinions on them: I think they do good work but go too far and are financially… I won’t say corrupt exactly, but… well, they have way more money than necessary and yet are continually begging for more. [Wikipedia Article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center) ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388/47 "2005-05-28T07:12:29Z")
Thank you for that. I guess I just get a little concerned when one group starts calling another group names. I’ve heard very bad things about Dee’s by the way but that’s another days issue (and for some reason I never connected him to the Southern Poverty Law Center). Still think the Potok is right though 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-poverty-law-centre-links-christian-leaders-anti-gay-rhetoric-to-hate-crimes/305388.md?page=2)