By Guy Page
The organizer of a June 20 Vergennes speaking engagement for detransitioning movement leader Walt Heyer today blasted the Southern Poverty Law Center for placing her organization on its “hate map.”
Heyer will speak via Zoom at a Vermont-affiliate Parents’ Rights in Education (PRiE) event 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM, Vergennes Union Middle and High School, 50 Monkton Rd, Vergennes.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation founded by civil rights leaders Morris Dees, Levin, and Julian Bond. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white supremacist groups, for its classification of hate groups and other extremist organizations, and for promoting tolerance education programs, according to Wikipedia.
In recent years, the SPLC has come under fire for listing as ‘hate groups’ many pro-free speech and religious rights advocacy groups, including Focus on the Family and the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.
The only Vermont listing on its ‘hate map’ is something called the Vermont State Militia. The SPLC also is a staunch defender of Progressive donor George Soros, labeling his critics as ‘anti-semitic.’
Tara Ferf Jentink, Vermont Affiliate leader for PRiE, issued the following statement today:
“Yesterday, the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) added Parents’ Rights in Education to its “hate map,”along with other parents’ rights groups nationwide.
“The extreme-leftist SPLC has decided to label millions of parents from all backgrounds, parties, religions and race as “hateful, conspiratorial, and pervasive”, alongside the KKK, simply for speaking out in defense of their children.
“The SPLC is a vile-divisive group led by hate filled leftists that have utilized lists like this to encourage acts of violence and domestic terrorism by their members and supporters. We condemn the SPLC spreading false information about parental rights groups, which has and will undoubtedly again lead to violence and harm.
“The SPLC thought it would silence us by deliberately making every caring parent a potential target of leftist violence, but it was wrong. This has only emboldened us, and we will not be silenced. We will never stop fighting for our children.
“Parents’ Rights in Education is a national grassroots organization created by parents for parents in defense of their kids. We offer training on how to testify to school boards and how to run for school board elections. In addition to our training, we act as a megaphone for local issues related to parents’ rights.
“Operating in all 50 states and adding record new affiliates/members daily, we are parents and allies standing together, speaking as one, with one simple message: Stop messing with our kids. It ends here. Parents’ Rights in Education is under attack by organizations that, among other egregious abuses, are openly advocating in our schools for the chemical castration and mutilation of children, and that’s how we know we are doing something right.