SAN FRANCISCO —The National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR) Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon responds to the DOJ’s indictment of the more than 50 year-old civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): 

“We are deeply troubled by this week’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). For more than half a century, SPLC has done essential work documenting and confronting organized hate — work that has protected countless people, including members of the LGBTQ community, from violence and intimidation. The use of confidential informants to gather intelligence on groups like the Klan and neo-Nazi organizations is a long-standing and well-understood practice, one that law enforcement itself relies on, and one that SPLC’s donors and partners have long known about and supported. 

“This indictment fits a pattern we have watched with growing concern: the use of federal investigative power against lawyers, nonprofits, and advocates whose work the administration opposes. 

“Civil rights organizations exist because people need defenders — advocates willing to stand up for those who are targeted, marginalized, or silenced. That work has never been easy, and it has never been without risk. But it is indispensable. Communities across this country, including the LGBTQ community, depend on organizations like SPLC to document hate, confront injustice, and fight for the rights and safety of real people. 

“Now is the time to support the civil rights organizations doing this work. We urge everyone who believes in a country where people are safe, free, and treated with dignity to make clear — publicly and unmistakably — that the advocates defending those values will not be isolated or intimidated.” 

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About the National Center for LGBTQ Rights 

The National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the rights and safety of LGBTQ people through litigation, legislation, policy, and public interest advocacy. Founded in 1977, NCLR is the first national LGBTQ legal organization founded by women, bringing a fierce commitment to racial and economic justice and to our community’s most vulnerable. For more information, visit www.nclrights.org