the southern poverty law center was formed in one thousand nine hundred seventy one by two more years from montgomery joe levin and morris dees it began as a very small kind of storefront nonprofit agency and it was really about things like discrimination and voter dilution such lee social justice issues especially in the south. the center became probably most famous in the early eighty's for bringing a particular type of lawsuit there often called vicarious liability lawsuits against take groups gets white supremacist groups chiefly and that really was a completely novel approach and never been done before trying to hold the leaders of hate groups responsible for the criminal actions their members. probably the most famous single so that was the soup brought in early the knurling one nine hundred eighty s. portland or i'm against tom metzger the lawsuit was brought against me because morris dees and a.d.l. saw that we were making great headway i mean we're appearing on all the big t.v. shows and i was running for office and winning elections and stuff like that me said what are we go

. >> that's video from the southern poverty law center. these are photographs provided by the lawyer involved in this lawsuit, maurice robinson and anth an flag, who filed lawsuit. a third man, not shown here, has also filed suit. these men were reportedly referred to by bishop long as spiritual sons. according to the flagg and robinson lawsuit, the they were 17 and 18 years old at the time. anth an flagg had to share with the bishop. this is what his lawyer says happened. >> on that 18th birthday, bishop long engaged in oral sodomy with this young man. >> bishop long's third accuser said he would discuss holy scripture to justify and support the activity. bishop long denies all of the allegations. these photos of bishop long in tight gym clothes which appear to have been taken by the bishop himself were reportedly sent to another so-called spiritual son and released by the attorney involved in the lawsuit who you saw moments ago. bishop long's lawyer says the photos do not corroborate the charges and in a radio interview the attorney says

power, and be their pastor, and use biblical verses when he is out in front and list by the southern poverty law centers one of the most homophobic preachers in america? and so he makes these virulent anti-homosexual remarks and at the same time leading some sort of apparently double life. and these young men are confused. they're confused about their sexuality, because at the same time this is happening, they're actually wanting to meet girls. one of these young men is a father of a child, because they aren't gay. they just wanted to be loved and cared for by one of the most powerful, charismatic men, that the churches have ever known. >> i was looking at you gentlemen's faces as that was going on. ted, this looks like it pains you. >> well, the human condition is painful. because anybody with a set of ideals, especially somebody obligated to teach the scriptures, has that set of ideals. and then they've got their inhumanity. what stressed me earlier is when you interviewed the church members, how they said he did so many good things, he couldn't have done this. that is not true. it's not reflective o

. >> that's video from the southern poverty law center. these are photographs provided by the lawyer involved in this lawsuit, maurice robinson and anthony flagg, two of the men who have filed suit against the bishop. a third man not shown has also filed suit. these men were reportedly referred to by bishop long as spiritual sons. a special status his accusers say given to young men in the church he preyed on. according to the flagg and robinson lawsuits, they were 17 and 18 at the time the alleged encounters took place. flagg shared a bed with the bishop when they traveled together when he long took robinson to new zealand for his birthday, this is what allegedly happened. >> on that 18th birthday, bishop long engaged in oral sodomy with this young man. >> the third accuser says the bishop would discuss scripture to support the sexual activity. bishop long denies all of the allegations. these photos of bishop long in tight gym clothes which appear to have been taken by the bishop himself were reportedly sent to another so-called spiritual

in fact, the southern poverty law center calls bishop eddie long one of the most virulently homophobicti-gay moment. he said god says you deserve death. now he is facing these accusations. is there always a danger, if you're taking that sort of stand, that you live in a glass house and people with going to be encouraged to throw stones? >> well, as the bible tells us, all of sin come short of the glory of god and jesus died for everyone and so that's the message of the church. >> do you disagree with his message then to homosexuals? >> i hadn't heard what was said. >> but -- but -- but in this case, i mean, he is -- he is taking such a strong stand. i mean, you can't support that, do you? the saying that homosexuals deserve death? >> no. i don't say that homosexuals or anybody, for that matter, deserves death. >> right. >> that is the reason jesus christ came, not to destroy lives but to save them. >> do you think, in any way, bishop, this will change the way black churches deal with the issue of homosexuality? >> i believe that there's a dialogue that's open as there has always been.