Charity watchdog website labels conservative organizations as 'hate groups'

One of the nation's leading charity research website has drawn criticism for designating several conservative organizations in its listing as "hate groups."

GuideStar USA, which is considered to be the "world's largest source of information on nonprofit organizations," has recently begun incorporating "hate group" labels issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to conservative non-profits that have been known to oppose same-sex marriage, abortion, immigration or radical Islam.

On Wednesday, 41 conservative leaders sent a letter to GuideStar President and CEO Jacob Harold, asking him to drop the "hate group" labels on 46 organizations on the website.

In the letter, the conservative leaders pointed out that the SPLC is a "hard-left" activist organization that created the "hate group" listing based on its "aggressive political agenda."

The conservative leaders noted that the organization gained credibility by attacking violent groups such as neo-Nazis, skinheads and the Ku Klux Klan, but it is now trying to apply the same tactics into mainstream political discourse, including debates about immigration and sexual identity.

"The 'hate group' list is nothing more than a political weapon targeting people it deems to be its political enemies. The list is ad hoc, partisan, and agenda-driven. The SPLC doesn't even pretend to identify groups on the political left that engage in 'hate,'" the letter stated, according to The Christian Post.

The letter also pointed out that the SPLC does not include Islamist groups and mosques that incite anti-Semitism and actual violence on its list.

"Radical, violent leftist environmentalists or speech suppressing thugs – like the Rioting 'antifa' movement – receive no mention from the SPLC," the letter added.

Some of the organizations included in the "hate group" listing are the Family Research Council, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the American College of Pediatricians, the National Task Force for Therapy Equality, the American Family Association, the London Center for Policy Research, and the Jewish Institute for Global Awareness.

The conservative leaders further noted that the SPLC has been linked to several violent attacks.

Earlier this month, James Hodgkinson, who shot House Majority Whip Steve Scalise during a baseball practice, had "liked" SPLC on Facebook. The SPLC had issued a statement renouncing Hodgkinson's actions but explained that he was also a member of several anti-Republican groups like "Terminate the Republican Party."

"The SPLC continues to list on its website people such as House Majority Whip Steve Scalise who was recently shot by James T. Hodgkinson who 'liked' SPLC's Facebook page. Does it not concern you that within the past five years, the SPLC has been linked to gunmen who carried out two terrorist shootings in the DC area?" the conservative leaders wrote.

In response to the letter, a GuideStar spokesperson said that the website will be reconsidering how the SPLC data will be displayed and that the conservative groups can expect to see some changes in a few days.

Harold, who describes himself on GuideStar's website as a "social change strategist," has worked for Hewlett Foundation's philanthropy program as a "climate change campaigner" for Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace USA before he joined the charity research website.

According to The Daily Signal, the GuideStar president has been seen participating in the Jan. 21 Women's March in Washington D.C., which opposed President Donald Trump.