Hate Dossier: Focus on the Family, We Meet Again

Since Focus on the Family just aired another ad during an NFL game with their spot during Broncos - Patriots, it seems like now is a good time to shed some light on FotF and its founder James Dobson. (Clip of the Ad After the Jump)

Unlike the previously covered AFTAH, FotF is not (yet) designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, but they certainly do their part to make a case.  Focus has been guilty of using the work of discredited researcher Paul Cameron and misrepresenting legitimate studies to promote their anti-gay agenda.  In fact, just last week, Glenn T. Stanton of FotF referred to a relatively recent study as proof that opposite-sex parents are better at raising children than same-sex parents.  One small problem: the study did not reference same-sex parents at all, it compared children raised by opposite-sex parents to those raised by single mothers.

This is important because I don't think the biggest obstacle to gay rights is the bible thumpers screaming out scripture.  Those people are going to be bigots no matter how much truth you bombard them with.  The real problem is those that oppose gay rights simply because they're not knowledgeable or researched enough to know any better.  They're the people that don't have a stake in the matter and could be allies if they knew the truth, but aren't because they believe in the nonsense that groups like AFTAH and FotF spew.

That's why it's especially dangerous when people like FotF (and Family Research Council) founder James Dobson say things like; "Moms and Dads, are you listening? This movement is the greatest threat to your children. It is of particular danger to your wide-eyed boys, who have no idea what demoralization is planned for them," and lump LGBT individuals into the same class as voyeurs, adulterers, and pedophiles.  These things are nothing short of outright lies (funny how that commandment gets passed over by these "godly" people), and they're a blight on not only the LGBT community, but also on a society that should strive towards equality. 

The (somewhat creepy) ad that aired last night:





Thanks to Alvin McEwen, author of the blog Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters and Think Progress for calling out Glenn T. Stanton, and the SPLC and all their hard work exposing bigoted organizations.