Thirty members of a religious group called Faithful America on Tuesday walked into New York City’s Rockefeller Center and met with MSNBC representatives, handing them over 20,000 signed petitions demanding the progressive cable news network stop hosting Tony Perkins, the leader of a certified anti-gay hate group called the Family Research Council.
Faithful America includes among its active members gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson (image, above, on left,) and Jacqui Lewis ( image, third from left,) and offers these statements on their website:
The Family Research Council is a hate group, and journalists ought to treat it as such. MSNBC must stop inviting Family Research Council spokespeople on the air to represent the views of Christians and other people of faith.
The Family Research Council is so extreme that they’ve been officially listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, in part because they’ve repeatedly accused gays and lesbians of child molestation. But MSNBC has continued to invite their president, Tony Perkins, and other organizational spokespeople on air to comment on behalf of the religious community. In fact, this year Tony Perkins has appeared on MSNBC more often than FOX News.
MSNBC has built its business on progressive viewers, and they need to hear that we find it unacceptable to provide an unquestioning platform for the religious right’s hatred and fear-mongering.
Faithful America announced their visit, stating,
“The delegation will remind MSNBC that the hateful views of Perkins and the Family Research Council aren’t reflective of the faith community and demand that the network stop inviting him on the air to represent the views of Christians and other people of faith.”
No word yet on whether MSNBC will agree to stop hosting Tony Perkins.
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You can add your signature to Faithful America’s petition here and visit them on Facebook.
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