Naperville Anti-Gay Org Labeled "Hate Group"

By Joseph Erbentraut in News on Mar 26, 2010 6:00PM

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), a Naperville-based organization "devoted exclusively to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda," has been officially labeled a "hate group" in the Southern Poverty Law Center's latest issue of its Intelligence Report publication. The designation for AFTAH was earned in large thanks to the efforts of Chicago's Gay Liberation Network (GLN), who lobbied the center to condemn AFTAH, which is led by Peter LaBarbera. According to a GLN press release, the center defines a hate group as one that "not merely ... opposes legal equality for gays or others, but [also] ... intentionally utilize[s] discredited and slanderous propaganda to spread lies about a group of people."

GLN argues AFTAH's repeated use of refuted research from psychologist Paul Cameron provides ample evidence of their hate-filled ways. Cameron, who has been kicked out of every major sociological and psychological organization, called for the "extermination of homosexuals" at a conference in 1985, in addition to calling AIDS a "godsend" and wishing to see gays registered with the government and gay bars closed down. "Getting LaBarbera's website labeled a 'hate group' is important because it helps assist the political marginalization of a man who has dedicated his career to denying others legal equality," says Bob Schwartz of the GLN of the center's decision.

Matt Barber, an AFTAH board member, was not so thrilled by the decision, calling the center a "far-left political activist outfit ... a “non-profit” extension of the black helicopter, Huffpo-wing of the Democratic Party." He goes on to argue that the U.S. Armed Forces, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FDA should also be labeled as "hate groups" as they, too, "expose the undeniable medical and societal pitfalls associated with the homosexual lifestyle."