Southern Poverty Law Center

Wade Michael Page, Wisconsin Sikh temple shooter: Image circulating [PHOTO]

This morning, a photo of Wade Michael Page -- the 40-year-old U.S. Army veteran suspected of being the sole gunman responsible for the Milwaukee-area Sikh temple shooting that left seven dead yesterday, including Page himself -- began to circulate around the internet.The photo was released by the So ... More >>

Bachmann's source for Muslim Brotherhood claim reportedly man Grover Norquist called a 'sick bigot'

SEE ALSO: What Communists were for Joe McCarthy, the Muslim Brotherhood is for Michele BachmannLast week, we told you about an explosive allegation Michele Bachmann is making -- she thinks the Muslim Brotherhood has made "deep penetration" into the U.S. government and wants federal agencies to inves ... More >>

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 criminalizes Mexicans

Cops will have to ask brown people for their papers

Anoka-Hennepin school board says 'no' to ex-gay therapy

"No." It's a word the Parents Action League hasn't heard much in their 18 year history with the Anoka-Hennepin school district. But times have definitely changed since members of PAL -- a conservative Christian parents group -- helped draft a 1995 curriculum policy that said homosexuality should n ... More >>

Parents Action League listed as a hate group

​The Southern Poverty Law Center recently released its annual "Hate Map" which identifies over 1,000 groups all over the U.S. that it considers to be hate groups.Debuting this year is the Champlain-based group Parents Action League, which testified at many Anoka-Hennepin school board meetings agai ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin settles lawsuit with bullied students

​Last night, the Anoka-Hennepin school district settled the lawsuit brought against it by six students who say they were bullied for being gay. The settlement requires that the district implement a raft of anti-harassment policies, which will stay in place for five years. "Nothing like this has b ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin school board kills the neutrality policy

Moments after the final vote.​The "no homo promo" is no 'mo. In front of a standing room-only audience, five of the six Anoka-Hennepin school board members voted to retire its controversial Sexual Orientation Curriculum policy. The so-called "neutrality policy" or "no homo promo" has been rewrit ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin school district's gay-bullying problem profiled in Rolling Stone

​In its current issue, Rolling Stone magazine becomes the latest big-name national media outlet to come down hard on the gay-bullying problem in the Anoka-Hennepin school district. In "School of Hate: One Town's War on Gay Teens" reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely writes about the plight of gay studen ... More >>

Jefferson Fietek, Anoka-Hennepin teacher and gay rights advocate, is running for state senate

​Jefferson Fietek has made a name for himself as the most outspoken teacher in the Anoka-Hennepin school district's "neutrality policy" debate -- now he's parlaying that notoriety into a run for state senate. "I definitely think this work that I've done locally -- and transitioned into nationally ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin school board unveils newest "neutrality policy" replacement

​Less than a week after ditching the incredibly controversial "Controversial Topics Policy," the Anoka-Hennepin School Board took another crack at rewriting its "Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy." Conservative Christian parents and LGBT rights advocates gathered once more to hear the language ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin school district ditches new "controversial topics" policy

​After two contentious school board meetings, it appears the Anoka-Hennepin school board is backing away from a rewritten version of the so-called neutrality policy. The Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy currently on the books was going to be renamed the "Controversial Topics Policy," which r ... More >>

Parent group demands ex-gay therapy training in Anoka-Hennepin schools

​Gay rights advocates may not have liked the language of the "controversial topics policy" that may replace the Anoka-Hennepin school district's "neutrality policy," but at least there appeared to be movement on the issue. Now, conservative Christian parents are hoping to move things in just the ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin School Board holds contentious reading of revised "neutrality policy"

Janet Boynes speaks in support of keeping the "no homo promo."​Last night's Anoka-Hennepin School Board meeting was the first time the public was able to react to the language replacing the district's controversial Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy. The so-called "neutrality" policy's most stal ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin students talk, sing to Anderson Cooper about anti-gay bullying [VIDEO]

Anderson Cooper talked to Kyle, bullying victim and scene-stealer.​Anderson Cooper is making it something of a personal mission to take on the school bullying issue, and every night this week on CNN is devoted to his "Bullying: It Stops Now" campaign.To kick off the series on Sunday night, Cooper ... More >>

Anoka-Hennepin district quietly changes "neutrality policy" test question

​Jefferson Fietek, a drama teacher at Anoka Middle School, was supposed to answer six simple questions to prove he'd watched a training presentation put out by the Anoka-Hennepin school district. The test was supposed to be easy. But the way it was written made passing impossible. The wording of ... More >>

Michele Bachmann responds to Anoka-Hennepin suicides without addressing gay-bullying

​It took a while, but Michele Bachmann has finally addressed the anti-gay bullying and suicides in her district. Uh, sort of. In response to a petition delivered to her St. Cloud office three weeks ago, the congresswoman sent an email to 6th district constituents who signed it. In it, she ackno ... More >>

Minnesota gets an F in civil rights history

​The Civil Rights Movement was a big thing that happened, like, a really long time ago. Some people were being mean to other people who had darker skin. At least, that's what New York told us.Minnesota is one of 35 (!) states that got an F in the Southern Poverty Law Center's new report on the tea ... More >>

Erik Turbenson suicide foreshadowed gay taunting trouble at Anoka-Hennepin

One student's tragic struggle inside the school district

Anoka-Hennepin teacher training test requires affirmation of "neutrality policy"

Anoka-HennepinTeachers at high schools like Anoka are being asked to neuter their feelings on neutrality.​Teachers who have a problem with the Anoka-Hennepin school district's so-called "no homo promo" policy are in yet another tight spot. The policy says that staff "shall remain neutral on matte ... More >>

Everyone's a loser when black radical confronts white conservative at UM-Duluth[VIDEO]

​Phil Cleary is a young conservative activist, who decided he wanted to push literature for an anti-immigration group called "Youth for Western Civilization." Blair Moses is a young radical who decided he wanted to wear a shirt bearing the face of Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panthers.This ... More >>

Steve Wilkins, Michele Bachmann's Confederate historian

Steve Wilkins is a good Confederate but a bad historian. ​Michele Bachmann has a troubled past when it comes to race relations, particularly as it relates to her understanding of slavery. Bachmann doesn't seem to know what is was like, or how it ended. Sometimes she forgets it existed at all. How ... More >>

Sixth student sues Anoka-Hennepin school district over gay bullying [UPDATE]

Samantha Johnson's is one of at least four suicides blamed on bullying.​The Anoka-Hennepin school district has been slapped with yet another lawsuit over gay bullying in its schools and its policy of "neutrality" on issues of homosexuality. The plaintiff, a 15-year-old former Jackson Middle School ... More >>

City Pages' Jessica Lussenhop named among "Best Young Writers on the Internet"

Jessica Lussenhop was one of a dozen writers chosen.​City Pages staff writer Jessica Lussenhop has been chosen as one of the "Best Young Writers on the Internet" by the Business Insider. Lussenhop was one of a dozen young journalists selected for the list, joining staffers at The New York Times, T ... More >>

Michele Bachmann signs hate group's anti-gay marriage pledge

Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus, heterosexual crusaders.​Shocking no one, Michele Bachmann signed a pledge from the National Organization of Marriage, promising to do everything she can to keep gay people from being happily married. In the recent past, Bachmann's gotten in a spot of troubl ... More >>

Timeline of the Anoka-Hennepin school district's LGBT neutrality policy [INFOGRAPHIC]

Courtesy of Aaberg familyJustin Aaberg, a district student, was only 15 when he took his own life.​Anoka-Hennepin, the state's largest school district, has become the focus of national controversy. The district is being probed by the Department of Justice and Office of Civil Rights while at the ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's district sees rash of gay teen suicides

The controversial policy mirrors Bachmann's position on homosexuality in schools​The teenagers who have committed suicide in the school district Michele Bachmann represents have begun to haunt her campaign like activist ghosts.Bachmann's district includes the Anoka-Hennepin County School District, ... More >>

Five students suing Anoka-Hennepin schools over gay bullying

Justin Aaberg committed suicide after years of bullying.​The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights are suing the Anoka-Hennepin County School District on behalf of five current and former students, claiming that the district's hands-off policy on sexual orientation ... More >>

Keith Ellison breaks down in tears at Muslim hearings [VIDEO]

Ellison breaks down.​Rep. Keith Ellison spent weeks deriding the congressional hearings that opened today on radical Muslims, orchestrated by Rep. Peter King of New York, as little more than an attempt to spread fear and hatred of a religious minority. When it came his turn to testify and de ... More >>

Sarah Lindstrom and Desiree Shelton win right to attend Champlin Park H.S. pep fest together

​The lawsuit is off and the kids are alright. Openly lesbian Champlin Park High School students Sarah Lindstrom and Desiree Shelton have won the right to walk together in the processional for the school's annual Snow Days Pep Fest.

SPLC sues Anoka-Hennepin for denying lesbians' rights in Snow Days [UPDATE]

​The Anoka-Hennepin School District can't seem to come to terms with the idea that Champlin Park High School students have voted for two lesbians to be among the "royalty" at its annual Snow Days Pep Fest and Coronation. And instead of just allowing openly gay girls Desiree Shelton and Sarah ... More >>

Fair-y Tales

Tim Pawlenty goes nativist on English-only

Love it or leave it, amigos!​Still lagging badly as a possible presidential candidate, Tim Pawlenty is now making a strong pitch for the xenophobe vote. At a news conference yesterday, Pawlenty hinted that the state should consider making English its official language.

Michele Bachman tops SPLC list of militia enablers

​The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks hate groups, has released a report on the rise of the "Patriot" movement -- right-wing paranoiacs who see creeping socialist totalitarianism in everything from the postal service to the president's middle name. It's also compiled a list ... More >>

Terror becomes Arizona policy

Michele Bachmann listed among dangerous "Patriots"

​The Southern Poverty Law Center, long known for tracking right wing extremist groups, has released a new report on the "Patriot" movement, and Michele Bachmann is prominently featured.The report lists 40 prominent men and women involved with the "Patriot" movement, anti-government militia-minded ... More >>

10/27 Morning Communiqué

7/10 Morning Communiqué

Aural History

Larry Long overturns the "great man" theory of traditional music, one folk at a time

Not in our Backyard

Scott Paulson was sick of his stepson's complaints about a white posse beating up his black friends. Then the phalanx of trucks pulled up on his lawn.