Who Are The Real Nazis Again?

Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association

It seems as though the number of times that social conservatives compare society's movement towards equality for the LGBT community to the rise of Nazis in Germany is infinite. Some of these social conservatives, especially Bryan Fischer (president of the so-called American Family Association, a designated hate-group) have taken to using the term “homo-fascist.” Statements like this show an utter ignorance of history, so let us have a little history lesson.

Family Research Council Pres. Tony Perkins

Nazi Germany passed a succession of laws targeting (primarily) the Jewish community, restricting their rights, telling them what they could or could not do, not allowing them to live their own lives as they saw fit. Their ability to own property was severely limited. The professions which they could practice were increasingly restricted (beginning in 1933). Their right to serve in the military was eliminated (1935). Their sexual activities were also in some instances regulated (1935). Their right to marry the person they love were in many cases abolished (1935). These restrictions are just the tip of a very large iceberg.

Of course there were the Concentration Camps. They speak for themselves.

N.O.M Co-Founder Bryan Brown

Fast forward to the present. A litany of laws have been passed restricting the rights of the LGBT community, and these laws have been championed by social conservatives. An Ohio school tried to suppress the freedom of speech of some students who were wearing gay-supportive T-shirts. A host of conservative leaders have said gay people should be restricted from teaching in schools, playing in professional sports leagues such as the National Football League, and from various other professions. Social conservatives want to roll back the clock on Don't Ask Don't Tell, which would restrict the rights of gay and lesbian service members to serve openly while protecting this country. Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) has given the okay for adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples. Governor Sam Brownback (R-KS) refused to repeal the state's anti-sodomy law despite the Lawrence vs. Texas Supreme Court decision in 2003 (which stated that anti-sodomy laws are unconstitutional) which supersedes it. More than 30 states have restricted the rights of same-sex couples to marry under the law whether by statutes or by state constitutional amendments. Even same-sex couples from the 9 states and Washington D.C. which have marriage equality at the state level are still restricted by the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. Many conservatives want to go even farther with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions altogether.

Liberty Council's Matt Barber

Peter Sprigg of the so-called Family Research Council, another designated hate-group, is on record as saying homosexuality should be criminalized. A North Carolina pastor's claim that gays and lesbians should be imprisoned behind electrified fences until they die went viral and made national news. His conservative parishioners supported his claim.

Those who oppose equality for all people would do well to think twice before hurling hyperbolic insults against those with whom they disagree. When you set the two sides of this battle against the historical record, there is in fact one side which bares a far more factual resemblance to the Third Reich than the other, based on their own statements and the policies they have supported. The evidence is crystal clear as to which side that is.

P.S.: The Nazis lost, which is something the anti-equality forces would do well to keep in mind.