The "fair and balanced" network that is FOX News has struck again. On the June 21 segment of The O'Reilly Factor viewers were treated to a "report" about lesbian gangs terrorizing the nation. Seriously. One Rod Wheeler, a Fox News crime analyst breathlessly reports about gangs of lesbian roving our city streets, beating up heterosexuals, and indoctrinating kids while at it. Again, seriously.

Said Wheeler, a former Metropolitan D.C police officer:

"Well, you know, there is this national underground network, if you will, Bill, of women that's lesbians and also some men groups that's actually recruiting kids as young as 10 years old in a lot of the schools in the communities all across the country. And they actually carry a number of weapons. And they commit a number of crimes...we've actually counted, just in the Washington D.C. area alone, that's Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, well over 150 of these crews. … And they — like I said, they recruit these kids to be members of these gangs."

Thank heavens we have Fox to let us know the real threat in the U.S. isn't straights gay-bashing us, it's us attacking them! And according to Wheeler some of the women carry pink pistols.

Naturally, Bill being the excellent journalist he is, vetted all Wheeler's claims before airing them to a national audience, right? Not so fast. Thanks to the excellent Southern Poverty Law Center -- a civil rights watchdog group -- we know that isn't the case. The SPL contacted several police headquarters in the region and they have no idea what Wheeler is talking about. And when the group contacted Wheeler he couldn't provide the name of a single police chief, cite a media source, or any other proof to back up his claims about lesbian gangs in the D.C. area.

Turns out Wheeler is a member of Jericho City of Praise, a conservative mega-church actively working against gay rights. Hmm, I wonder what might be behind Wheeler's outlandish claims? As for O'Reilly, this is yet another in a long line of homophobic garbage reports he has filled our airwaves with. Both he and Fox are forces of evil in this world. But what really gets me are the numerous gay folks at Fox who delude themselves into thinking their presence somehow helps gay visibility. I'm sure the network treats their gay employees just fine. That will never stop them from demonizing us again and again.

Here is a link to Wheeler's website or drop him an email at info@rod007.com. As always, be polite when making your point.

The clip from O'Reilly's show is after the jump. And for a more humorous take, check out Sarah Warn's post over at AfterEllen.com. And they say lesbians don't have a sense of humor!