Hate Group Founder Don Wildmon Dies At Age 85

The Associated Press reports:

Donald Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, a conservative Christian advocacy group, has died, the organization announced Thursday. The 85-year-old Mississippi native died on Thursday from complications related to Lewy body dementia, an obituary published by WTVA-TV said.

Wildmon died in Tupelo, Mississippi, the city where the American Family Association is based. The obituary referred to Wildmon as “one of the legendary leaders of American conservatism.”

Since its inception, the conservative advocacy group has launched campaigns and boycotts to pressure corporations to avoid supporting causes the group opposed, such as LGBT anti-discrimination measures.

The Magnolia Tribune reports:

Wildmon founded the National Federation for Decency, which later became AFA, in 1977 in his kitchen in Tupelo, Mississippi. He began the organization over his concern for the profanity and indecency he saw on television.

In 1991, Wildmon started American Family Radio (AFR), which now has between one and a half and two million listeners.

Wildmon led over 30 tours to the Holy Land and western Europe and authored 22 books during his life. Wildmon’s son, Tim, assumed leadership of AFA in 2002, with the elder Wildmon stepping down from the organization in 2010.

Today the American Family Association is arguably the nation’s most powerful anti-LGBTQ hate group, with annual revenue in the tens of millions and full ownership of around 200 Christian radio stations. They launched One Million Moms in 2012 after JC Penney hired Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson.