Tony Perkins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 4th President of theFamily Research Council | |
| Assumed office September 1, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Connor |
| Chair of theUnited States Commission on International Religious Freedom | |
| In office June 17, 2019 – June 16, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Tenzin Dorjee |
| Succeeded by | Gayle Manchin |
| Member of theLouisiana House of Representatives from the 64th district | |
| In office January 3, 1996 – January 12, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Mike McCleary |
| Succeeded by | Bodi White |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anthony Richard Perkins (1963-03-20)March 20, 1963 (age 62) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Lawana Perkins |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Liberty University (BS) Louisiana State University (MPA) |
| Website | tonyperkins.com |
Anthony Richard Perkins (born March 20, 1963) is an American politician andSouthern Baptistpastor, who has served as president of theFamily Research Council since 2003.[1][2][3][4] Previously, he was apolice officer and television reporter. From 1996 to 2004, he served as a member of theLouisiana House of Representatives. He unsuccessfully ran for theU.S. Senate in2002. On May 14, 2018, he was appointed to theUnited States Commission on International Religious Freedom by then-Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell, and on June 17, 2019, the Commission elected himChairman.[5][1]As part of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) “Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project,” Perkins symbolically “adopted” Nigerian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu, who was abducted by Boko Haram in 2018 after refusing to renounce her Christian faith, in order to advocate for her release.[6][7]
Perkins was born and raised in the northernOklahoma city ofCleveland and graduated in 1981 from Cleveland High School. He received hisBachelor of Science degree fromLiberty University.[8] He later earned aMaster of Public Administration degree fromLouisiana State University inBaton Rouge. After college, Perkins entered theUnited States Marine Corps.[8] Following his tour of duty, he became a reserve deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office and also worked with theU.S. State Department's Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program instructing hostage negotiation and bomb disposal to hundreds of police officers from around the world.[8][9][10]
After the federal contract for the anti-terrorism program ended, Perkins left law enforcement to work forKBTR, the Baton Rouge TV station owned by then-State RepresentativeWoody Jenkins. At KBTR, Perkins opened a news division.[10]
Perkins won an open seat in the Louisiana House representing District 64 (the eastern Baton Rouge suburbs, including part ofLivingston Parish) when he defeatedDemocrat Herman L. Milton ofBaker 63% to 37% in thenonpartisan blanket primary held on October 21, 1995.[11][12] He was elected on a conservative platform of strong families and limited government. Four years later, he was reelected without opposition.[13] He retired from the legislature in 2004, fulfilling a promise to serve no more than two terms.[14][15]
While in office, Perkins authored legislation to require Louisianapublic schools to install Internet filtering software, to provide daily silent prayer, and to prevent what he termed "censorship of America's Christian heritage".[16] Perkins also authored the nation's firstcovenant marriage law, a voluntary type of marriage that permits divorce only in cases of physical abuse, abandonment, adultery, imprisonment or after two years of separation.[8][17]
Perkins opposed casino gambling in Louisiana, calling a 1996 plan to restrict the location of gambling riverboats to one side of the river, "putting lipstick on a hog". It doesn't make the bill any better, it just looks a little better."[18] Perkins was described as "staunchlyanti-abortion" byPublic Broadcasting Service which also credited him with working on law and order and economic development issues while in the state house.[8] Perkins was instrumental in increasing state regulation of Louisiana abortion clinics; he sponsored a law to require state licensing and sanitary inspections.[2][19]
Perkins ran for theUnited States Senate in2002 as a social and religious conservative Republican.[8] Louisiana's then-Governor,Murphy J. Foster Jr., and theNational Republican Senatorial Committee backed other candidates.[8] Perkins finished in fourth place in the nonpartisan blanket primary with just under 10% of the vote.[2] The Democratic incumbent,Mary Landrieu, was re-elected in the general election against another Republican,Suzanne Haik Terrell.
On May 14, 2018, he was appointed as one of nine commissioners to theUnited States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).[5] His appointment was opposed by theHindu American Foundation for his track record of "hateful stances against non-Christians."[20]
On June 17, 2019, the USCIRF elected Perkins as chair for the commission.[21] On June 16, 2020, he became the USCIRF vice chair.[22] On March 27, 2021, he was sanctioned by the Chinese government after the U.S. imposed sanctions on China.[23]
Perkins was floated as a potential Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate againstMary Landrieu in the2014 election.[24] Despite strongly criticisingBill Cassidy, the main Republican challenger to Landrieu, as "pretty weak on the issues", Perkins said in an interview in January 2014 that he would not run against Landrieu. He did however express interest in running forDavid Vitter's U.S. Senate Seat, should Vitter be electedGovernor of Louisiana in2015.[25] Vitter lost the election and announced he would not run for re-election to the Senate, but Perkins declined to run in the2016 election and endorsedJohn Fleming for the seat.[26]
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According to theBaptist Press, Perkins' "concern about the influence of the homosexual movement" led to his involvement in the 1998 founding of theLouisiana Family Forum, a conservative, faith-oriented, anti-abortion, and non-profit group.[27][28]
In September 2003, Perkins withdrew from the race for Louisiana stateinsurance commissioner to become the president of theconservative ChristianFamily Research Council (FRC).[29] He replaced Ken Connor.[30][31] In addition to his duties as president of the FRC, Perkins hosts a radio program,Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.[32]
Perkins was involved in the 2005 controversy over the disconnection oflife support forTerri Schiavo, a woman who had been in a "persistent vegetative state" for a number of years. After a final court order permitted Schiavo's husband to remove her feeding tube and thereby cause her to die, Perkins stated, "we should remember that her death is a symptom of a greater problem: that the courts no longer respect human life."[33]
In October 2008, Perkins called the passage ofCalifornia Proposition 8 (which prohibitedsame-sex marriage in the state) "more important than the presidential election", adding that the United States has survived despite picking bad presidents in the past but "we will not survive if we lose the institution of marriage."[34]
In 2010, Perkins dismissed theSPLC hate group designation as a political attack on the FRC by a "liberal organization" and as part of "the left's smear campaign of conservatives".[35]
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In 2015, Perkins affirmedthe debate over Obama's birth certificate as "legitimate", remarking that it "makes sense" toconclude that Obama was a Muslim. That year, a survey reported that "54 percent of GOP voters thought Obama was a Muslim".[36]
In 2016, Perkins endorsedTed Cruz for theRepublican presidential nomination.[37]
In 2017, some supporters of a political candidate,Wesley Goodman, who was alleged to have committed a sexual assault in 2015, complained that Perkins did not reveal information to the public about Goodman's actions.[38]
In 2018, Perkins was willing to overlookDonald Trump's past, stating that President Trump should be given a "Mulligan". Perkins opined that Trump was "providing the leadership we need at this time, in our country and in our culture."[39]
In 2014, Perkins released an editorial explaining why he supportsIsrael.[40]
In 2005, Perkins opposed thefilibustering of certain right-leaning federal judicial nominees by U.S. Senate Democrats, arguing that the Democrats were waging a "campaign against orthodox religious views",[41] and that the judicial nominees were being persecuted for their Christian faith.[42] He became one of the organizers and hosts ofJustice Sunday, a series of events that sought to mobilize theevangelical Christian base in support of the nominees.[43]
In 2010, Perkins opposed the overturning of the "Don't ask, don't tell" law that prohibited people who were openly gay or lesbian from serving in the U.S. military. Perkins argued that the repeal would, among other things, infringe on the religious liberty of military chaplains and other service members holding orthodox Christian views.[44]
In 2006, Perkins urged Congress to pass theFederal Marriage Amendment to theU.S. Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as the union between one man and one woman.[45][46] He explained his reasoning in a 2006Human Events column:
The definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is rooted in the order of nature itself. It promotes the continuation of the human race and the cooperation of a mother and a father in raising the children they produce. This union can only be protected through amending the United States Constitution. If it's not, activists will continue using the courts to sell a five-legged dog.[47]
Perkins believesnatural disasters are divine punishments forhomosexuality. His own home was destroyed in the2016 Louisiana floods, which he described as "a flood of near-biblical proportions". In 2018, Perkins wrote about his opposition to the 2003Lawrence v. Texas decision, the landmark Supreme Court decision which struck down state anti-sodomy laws, saying “Then, the next biggest shoe would drop — Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Texas’s ban on sodomy."[48][49]
Perkins opposes any increases in theminimum wage, which he stated in a book that he co-authored with Harry R. Jackson, Jr. in 2008. Jackson claimed that the minimum wage is rooted in racism.[50]
In June 2019, Perkins advocated for the "fundamental human right of religious freedom" for non-Christians.[51]
He criticized the persecution ofUyghurs in China and religious minorities in Iran.[21]
In September 2010, Perkins claimed that "the ultimate evil has been committed" when Muslimsinterpret the Quran in its literal context,[52] that Islam "tears at the fabric of democracy,"[53][54] and thatworld history classes dishonestly portray Islam in a positive light by providing an "airbrushed" portrait of the religion itself.[55]
In 2007, Perkins opposed the first-ever Hindu prayer before theUnited States Senate, saying, "There is no historic connection between America and the polytheistic creed of the Hindu faith." He also opposed aUS Marines yoga and meditation program forPTSD prevention, characterizing theHindu andBuddhist practices as "goofy".[20]
Perkins is a self-described "ardent supporter of theSecond Amendment" who is "willing to talk about laws regarding the ownership and use of guns by those who should not have them."[56]
On May 17, 2001, Perkins gave a speech to the Louisiana chapter of theCouncil of Conservative Citizens, awhite supremacist group that has describedblack people as a "retrograde species of humanity".[57] Perkins said he did not know the group's ideology at the time. In an April 26, 2005, article inThe Nation,Max Blumenthal reported that while managing the unsuccessful U. S. Senate campaign ofWoody Jenkins in 1996, Perkins "paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand WizardDavid Duke $82,500 for his mailing list." Perkins denied knowing about the purchase. A document authorizing the payment was reported to contain Perkins' signature. The incident resurfaced in the local press in 2002, during Perkins' unsuccessful Senate run.[58]
Perkins signed a December 10, 2020, letter from the Conservative Action Project asking state legislatures in the battleground states ofPennsylvania,Arizona,Georgia,Wisconsin,Nevada, andMichigan to exercise their plenary power under the Constitution to overturn Joe Biden's victory by appointing pro-Trump slates of electors to theElectoral College.[59]
Perkins is married to Lawana Perkins (née Lee), with whom he has five children.[14] He also adopted 16-year-old Boko Haram-held captive, Nigerian Leah Sharibu.[21]
He has been affiliated with theNational Rifle Association of America, theAmerican Legion, theChristian Coalition, and the Baton Rouge Rescue Mission.[9] Perkins served as president of theCouncil for National Policy.[60]
Perkins' family was affected by the2016 Louisiana floods, and had to evacuate their Louisiana home by canoe.[61][62]
Perkins has a YouTube channel where he discusses political topics, often interviewing pastors and other figures. His channel currently has around 24,900 subscribers.
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Resources from Wikiversity| Louisiana House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mike McCleary | Member of theLouisiana House of Representatives from the 64th district 1996–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by Kenneth L. Connor | President of theFamily Research Council 2003–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
