Conservative Leader ‘Encouraged’ by Nonprofit Tracker’s Removal of ‘Hate Group’ Labels From Conservative Groups

The nation’s leading source of information on U.S. nonprofits has removed its use of a controversial “hate group” designation in listings for some well-known and broadly supported conservative nonprofits.

“We are generally encouraged by GuideStar’s decision to remove the labeling of nonprofit webpages like ours based on characterizations made by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a bitterly partisan political organization that has been linked in federal court to a domestic terrorist shooting,” William G. “Jerry” Boykin, a retired Army general who is executive vice president of the Family Research Council, said in a statement Monday.

“The SPLC continues to list on its website people such as House Majority Whip Steve Scalise who was recently shot by James Hodgkinson who ‘liked’ SPLC’s Facebook page,” Boykin added.

The Family Research Council was among 46 organizations flagged as “hate groups” by GuideStar.

GuideStar, which calls itself a “neutral” aggregator of tax data on charities, recently incorporated the “hate group” labels produced by the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, which inspired 41 conservative leaders to protest the move, asking GuideStar in a letter last week to remove the flagging.

Individuals who signed the letter referenced recent history and noted the “hate group” designation propagated by the Southern Poverty Law Center and adopted by GuideStar can have harmful implications.

Floyd Corkins, the man convicted of a 2012 attempt to massacre employees at the Family Research Council, was inspired by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s description of the Christian pro-family research organization as a hate group.

In an interview with the FBI, Corkins said a list on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website motivated his attack.

The SPLC has acknowledged the connection.

Boykin condemned the harassment GuideStar said its staff was receiving in connection over the controversial flagging.

“We encourage GuideStar to report these threats to the authorities,” Boykin said, adding:

We at FRC know directly what it is like to be on the receiving end of threats and life-threatening violence, so we do not take such matters lightly. We note that our interactions with the GuideStar staff have been cordial—even though we disagreed with its new policy.  

Boykin also said that those following or in affiliation with the Family Research Council would condemn violence or threats.

“Over many years we have come to know our constituents very well and have no doubt that they, as followers of the Lord Jesus, share our condemnation of threats and violence,” Boykin said. “This goes to our larger point about the SPLC. It is the SPLC that creates a toxic environment of hostility and animus toward those they seek to silence.”