PayPal
asked to block accounts of ‘gay hate’ groups
for PinkNews.co.uk
13 september 2011
PayPal has been asked to cancel the accounts
of religious groups accused of supporting anti-gay legislation.
Campaign group AllOut says that as the e-payments site
quickly banned white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan, it should also cancel
the accounts of groups such as Abiding Truth Ministries.
Abiding Truth Ministries has sent its leader,
Scott Lively, to Uganda on a number of occasions to discuss the “gay agenda”.
AllOut says PayPal has been invaluable in raising the funds for his work.
Mr Lively said he would support a bill
calling for stricter punishment of homosexuality if a clause allowing the death
penalty was removed.
AllOut cites ten other religious groups, most
of which are based in the US, calling them “dangerous anti-LGBT extremists”.
These include the Family Research Institute
and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, both of which say homosexuality is
dangerous and unnatural.
AllOut says it has reached its target of
25,000 signatures and will contact PayPal executives to demand the groups’
accounts are cancelled.
PayPal’s policy says it prohibits use of its
service for “activities that [...] promote hate, violence [and] racial
intolerance”.
Andre Banks of AllOut said: “One of the things
that makes PayPal amazing is that it allows legitimate charities to reach out
across currencies and continents to raise money for important causes. In the
wrong hands, however, this technology enables violent extremists to draw on a
global base of followers for financial support.
“When PayPal came under fire in the past for
processing donations to white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, the company
did the right thing and promptly removed them. If PayPal hears us and
terminates these ten accounts, we will cut funds from ten of the most dangerous
hate groups and have a real impact against homophobia worldwide.”
PinkNews.co.uk contacted PayPal yesterday for
comment.