The Heritage Foundation, an influential rightwing thinktank currently mired in controversy over its president’s apparent apology for extremism, has appointed as a director the founder of a secretive all-male network of Christian nationalist fraternal lodges.
Scott Yenor, appointed as Heritage’s new director of the B Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies, has also recently offered ultra-conservative opinions on women, marriage and LGBTQ+ rights in recent podcast appearances and speaking engagements.
They have included that there is an association between homosexuality and pedophilia; that adultery, homosexuality, no-fault divorce, and abortion should be outlawed under a regime of “soft patriarchy”; and that elements of the US Civil Rights Act, including its prohibitions against workplace sex discrimination, should be wound back.
Heritage appointed Yenor despite a string of controversies over his reactionary politics, including his resignation in April from the University of Florida’s board of regents after protests and concern from state legislators over his views about women.
Heidi Beirich, chief strategy officer and co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said: “It’s just disgraceful that Heritage, especially given all of its recent scandals over providing cover for antisemitism, would hire Yenor, who has long bashed women and has been investigated by his former employer for civil rights violations.”
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