Why Do News Networks Promote Anti-Gay Hate Groups?

Despite being registered as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a number of news networks - and newspapers like the Washington Post - have continued to regularly provide a platform for FRC spokesmen to disseminate their hate based and fraudulent anti-gay venom. It's not as if legitimate voices of religious people aren't available. The fact that Tony Perkins (who has past ties to white supremacy groups) in particular receives fawning interviews is particularly disgusting. Would these same networks provide similar venues for the Imperial Wizard of the KKK or spokesmen of Neo-Nazi groups that deny the Holocaust and idolize Hitler? I think not. Here are some highlights from Equality Matters:

In November of 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the Family Research Council as an anti-gay hate group due to its “propagation of known falsehoods” about the LGBT community. Since being listed, however, FRC spokespersons have been invited 52 times to discuss issues ranging from the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to the 2012 presidential campaign. Despite FRC’s long history of producing anti-gay propaganda, every major news network has invited the group on national television while failing to acknowledge its hate group designation.

SPLC: FRC’s “Specialty Is Defaming Gays And Lesbians.” From an October 7 SPLC report:

The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as “the leading voice for the family in our nation’s halls of power,” but its real specialty is defaming gays and lesbians. The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws and anti-bullying programs. To make the case that the LGBT community is a threat to American society, the FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed the FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate. [...]

The FRC also strongly promotes the “ex-gay” movement as a way to combat LGBT civil rights measures, though professional organizations have repeatedly called so-called “reparative therapy” (which seeks to turn gays and lesbians into heterosexuals) into question and issued statements that don’t support it. [...]

Part of the FRC’s recent strategy is to pound home the false claim that gays and lesbians are more likely to sexually abuse children. This is false.

FRC President Tony Perkins Made 32 Television Appearances Since Being Labeled A Hate Group Leader. According to an Equality Matters analysis*, FRC president Tony Perkins has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News a total of 34 times in twelve months after being his organization was labeled as a hate group.

Are these news networks incredibly lazy, ignorant, bigoted against gays, or what? It drives me crazy that when Perkins and others appear they (1) are NEVER asked hard questions and (2) their nasty past and/or numerous lies are never exposed. Joe Jervis summed it up well in regard to Perkins:

I'd also like to know why every single network ignores the scandal that sank Perkins' political career, namely his exposure as having paid KKK Grand Wizard David Duke a whopping $82,500 for access to his mailing list of racists. There's also this: "On May 17th, 2001, Perkins gave a speech to the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a white supremacist group that has described black people as a 'retrograde species of humanity.'"