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@BlockMachine_AL
@BlockMachine_AL is a Twitter bot that automatically generates a block list of users who follow people and organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBT extremists and hate groups. You can subscribe to the block list on Block Together here: https://blocktogether.org/show-blocks/FdcUliOL5cQsEwjubRv2oh_bl-tKZgDY2KzXcL7I
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a law firm and civil rights organization that, among other things, tracks the activities of a variety of hateful ideologies in the United States. While the SPLC's list of anti-LGBT hate groups does include several nominally Christian organizations, merely believing that the Bible is against gay marriage is not sufficient for hate group classification. Accordingly, the vast majority of Christian organizations in the US are not hate groups. In the SPLC's own words:
Generally, the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups. (Source)
This bot is currently tracking the follower lists of the following 32 twitter accounts.
You can see a full list of SPLC-designated anti-LGBT extremists here. Some people on the list are either dead or appear to not be on Twitter, and are therefore not tracked by this bot.
| Name | Twitter account | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan Fischer | @BryanJFischer | SPLC, Wikipedia |
| David Barton | @DavidBartonWB | SPLC, Wikipedia |
| David Lane | @GDavidLane | SPLC, Wikipedia |
| Gary Demar | @garydemar | SPLC, Wikipedia |
| Lou Engle | @LouEngle | SPLC, Wikipedia |
| Tony Perkins | @tperkins | SPLC, Wikipedia |
This list is an incomplete work in progress. You can see the full list of active SPLC-designated anti-LGBT hate groups here. In-depth profiles of the organizations are given in the links column when available. The SPLC has not published in-depth profiles for all hate groups.
People and organizations in italics are not listed as extremists or hate groups themselves, but are strongly tied to organizations that are. Their specific relationship is given in the notes column.
| Name | Twitter account | Links | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Family Association | @AmericanFamAssc | SPLC, Wikipedia | |
| AFA Action | @AFAAction | Lobbying arm of the American Family Association | |
| Alliance Defending Freedom | @AllianceDefends | SPLC, Wikipedia | |
| Family Research Council | @FRCdc | SPLC, Wikipedia | |
| FRC Action | @FRCAction | Lobbying arm of the Family Research Council | |
| Liberty Counsel | @libertycounsel | SPLC, Wikipedia | |
| Mat Staver | @MatStaver | Wikipedia | Founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel |
| Traditional Values Coalition | @TVC_CapitolHill | SPLC, Wikipedia | |
| Westboro Baptist Church | @WBCSaysRepent | SPLC, Wikipedia | |
| Americans for Truth about Homosexuality | @PeterLaBarbera | Organization Wikipedia, Founder Wikipedia | Twitter account of the organization's founder and president, Peter LaBarbera |
| American Vision | @AmericanVision | Wikipedia | |
| ATLAH World Missionary Church | @ATLAHWorldwide | Wikipedia | |
| James David Manning | @DrJamesDManning | Wikipedia | Cheif pastor of ATLAH World Missionary Church |
| Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM) | @FridayFax | Wikipedia | |
| Austin Ruse | @austinruse | Wikipedia | President of the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM) |
| Chalcedon Foundation | @RJRushdoony | Wikipedia | |
| Faithful Word Baptist Church | @sanderson1611 | Wikipedia | Twitter account of the organization's founder and pastor, Steven Anderson |
| Illinois Family Institute | @ProFamilyIFI | Wikipedia | |
| Illinois Family Action | @ILfamilyaction | Lobbying arm of the Illinois Family Institute | |
| MassResistance | @MassResistance | Wikipedia | |
| Pacific Justice Institute | @PacificJustice | Wikipedia | |
| Public Advocate of the United States | @PublicFreedom | Wikipedia | |
| Eugene Delgaudio | @eugenedelgaudio | Wikipedia | Founder and president of Public Advocate of the United States |
| SaveCalifornia.com | @savecalifornia | Wikipedia | |
| United Families International | @UFI | Wikipedia | |
| World Congress of Families / International Organization for the Family | @ProFam_Org | Wikipedia |
Since some of the Twitter accounts tracked by this bot belong to powerful and influential organizations, they may have some followers that don't "deserve" to be blocked. Therefore, this bot has a very small whitelist of users that it will not add to its block list even if they follow one or more of the tracked accounts. The whitelist mainly consists of reporters and news organizations.