(June 13) Today, Bryan Fischer, host of the American Family Association* talk radio program, Focal Point, told his audience that he is the victim of a hate crime by homosexuals. Fischer claims that homosexual "activists" are trying to "demonize" the AFA and him in order to "derail 'The Response' prayer rally that Gov. Rick Perry is organizing."
You can find a short video of Fischer claiming victimhood in the column at left.
Fischer has an interesting definition of what a hate crime is too:
"You are watching a hate crime in action, because the definition of a hate crime is harrassment; intimidation that is based by prejudice; motivated by prejudice against somebody's religious beliefs."
That's a little more exclusive than other definitions like, for instance, the one the US Department of Justice uses. In addition to religion, that one includes criminal acts based on characteristics like race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
Fischer, who regularly refers to "homosexual activists" as Nazis and terrorists, did, however, broaden his definition of hate crimes a little in his broadcast:
"...so this intimidation, this harrassment, and remember, one of the definitions in a hate crime of 'harrassment' is derogatory terminology, derogatory language, <garbled word> all kinds of epithets that are going to be thrown at us that meets the definition of a hate crime."
One last note: According to his Wikipedia entry:
"Fischer has been sharply criticized for his written and verbal attacks on Native Americans, African Americans, Muslims, gays and Hispanics. Fischer's divisive comments were cited by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in explaining the hate group designation they gave to the AFA in November 2010."
*The American Family Association (AFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values such as opposition to same-sex marriage, to pornography, and to abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act. (ibid)
**(Many thanks go to Right Wing Watch who do the heavy lifting and watch people like Bryan Fischer so I don't have to)
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