U.S. Capitol (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The man behind some of the strongest push against the Southern Poverty Law Center, who has an extensive anti-LGBTQ history, is being asked to speak before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its ongoing investigations into the nonprofit legal organization.
Last month, the Justice Department indicted the SPLC on 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements made to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering related to payments to informants.
The DOJ alleges the civil rights group defrauded donors by using their money to fund the extremist groups it claims to be fighting. It also alleges the SPLC used more than $3 million paid to informants through a now-defunct program designed to infiltrate white supremacist and other extremist organizations.
Since then, the House Judiciary Committee, which says its main goals are to “protect constitutional freedoms and civil liberties, provide oversight of the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and manage legal and regulatory matters” has launched its own investigation into the ongoing litigation against the civil rights organization and tapped far-right journalist Tyler O’Neil to speak on the matter on May 20.
O’Neil has worked for several outlets that advance far-right perspectives, including the Washington Free Beacon and Fox News, and is currently the senior editor at the Daily Signal.
The Daily Signal began as a newsletter for the conservative Heritage Foundation, which authored Project 2025, a policy blueprint for a second Trump administration that outlines expanded executive power, increased conservative control of federal agencies, reduced civil and human rights protections, and a vision of the U.S. as a Christian nationalist nation.
O’Neil has written extensively about progressive organizations — most notably the SPLC. He authored the book “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center,” in which he argues that the organization’s “hate map,” which identifies extremist groups — including neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan groups, and openly antisemitic organizations — is “an organ of disinformation” for also including mainstream conservative groups. He also did an interview with the Heritage foundation in 2022 about his work on the civil rights group, where it was called a “left-wing smear factory.”
In addition to his work on the SPLC, O’Neil has a long history of anti-LGBTQ — and specifically anti-transgender — commentary. At one point, he spotlighted the Reintegrative Therapy Association, a practice likened to conversion therapy by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. The American Medical Association has condemned the practice, stating: “Professional consensus rejects pathologizing homosexuality and gender nonconformity and evidence does not support the efficacy of changing sexual orientation.”
He has also attacked Christian groups that actively support LGBTQ people, particularly the Episcopal Church. He called the church “one of the most flaccid and spineless of the dying mainline Protestant denominations” and criticized its theology as a “watered-down bastardization of Christianity.”
O’Neil has also defended the anti-LGBTQ “pro-family” policies of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had been in office from 2010 until earlier this month. Orbán and his government faced widespread criticism for policies including banning Pride celebrations and restricting legal gender recognition for trans and intersex people.
The European Commission in 2022 sued Hungary, a member of the EU, over the country’s 2021 anti-LGBTQ propaganda law.
Vice President JD Vance spoke at an April rally for Orbán, supporting the hardline anti-transgender approach the former prime minister has taken in Hungary.
Overall, O’Neil’s work reflects a clear pattern of endorsing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, defending groups organizations have labeled as hate groups, and consistently writing through a Christian conservative nationalist lens.
Kyle Herrig of the Congressional Integrity Project, an organization “committed to exposing the reality behind Republicans’ politically motivated oversight and investigations,” gave a statement about the Judiciary Committee’s decision to have O’Neil testify, saying it further endangers those most vulnerable.
“House Republicans can’t find credible witnesses for their anti-civil rights crusade next week because they have no credible case. They’re giving a microphone to one of the far-right’s most discredited, anti-LGBTQ+ extremists and dressing it up as congressional oversight. It’s all in service of the Trump administration’s backwards prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the premiere organization tracking the very extremism people like Tyler O’Neill support. Attacking the SPLC doesn’t do anything to make Americans safer. It just makes it easier for racist, anti-LGBTQ+ organizations to operate in the dark.”
A Judiciary Democrats spokesperson provided a statement to the Washington Blade on O’Neil’s relationship and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric:
“Mr. O’Neil is no stranger to the committee — he has already testified twice in this Congress and has become something of a default witness for people who want to support and platform far-right extremist rhetoric. Judiciary Republicans’ decision to rely on him again here suggests a shortage of both new evidence and credible claims against the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Committee Democrats remain focused on protecting civil rights and resisting political efforts to discredit organizations that track and combat extremism, hate, and discrimination. As in prior hearings, Democrats are prepared to carefully scrutinize Mr. O’Neil’s hateful and out-of-touch ideas and debunk his false allegations about organizations dedicated to defending all of our civil rights.”
A Judiciary spokesperson [Republican] also provided the Blade with a comment, ultimately agreeing with O’Neil that the characterisation of some conservative groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center is unfair.
“We always knew the Southern Poverty Law Center was wrongfully targeting conservative groups as hate groups. Now we know the SPLC funneled money to extremists, raising questions whether the SPLC has been artificially elevating the domestic extremist threat and misleading its donors.”
The Blade reached out to O’Neil and the Daily Signal about O’Neil’s slated testimony for the committee.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
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