FLASHBACK: Washington Post hosted activist who wants “gay behavior” outlawed & gays “export[ed]”

The Washington Post has spent much of the week under fire for its decision to celebrate “National Coming Out Day” by publishing an anti-gay screed by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on its On Faith microsite, a decision it said was an effort to balance out a Live Q&A it hosted for Dan Savage, who is leading a campaign to reduce suicide among gay youths. Perkins' homophobic rant has even been criticized by the Post's own Jonathan Capehart.

Sadly, the Post's hospitality towards anti-gay bigots is not limited to Tony Perkins. Nor is that hospitality a recent development: In April, the Post hosted a Live Q&A with Family Research Council senior fellow Peter Sprigg. As I noted at the time, the Post's decision to host Sprigg was troubling:

[T]he Post's decision to host Sprigg is alarming … Peter Sprigg says “gay behavior” should be outlawed. And Sprigg has said “I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe that homosexuality is destructive to society.”

It seems safe to assume the Washington Post would not provide a forum to someone who says the practice of Judaism should be outlawed, or that he would prefer to “export blacks from the United States.” So why does the Post host anti-gay bigot Peter Sprigg?

The answer to that question is becoming all too clear.