A rightwing Christian “hate group” which is behind a host of legal efforts to roll back abortion rights, remove LGBTQ+ protections and demonize trans people has seen a huge increase in its funding and has funneled some of that money to a slew of smaller anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion groups across the US, the Guardian can reveal.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a registered non-profit behind the ongoing 303 Creative supreme court case which could chip away at LGBTQ+ rights, saw its revenue surge by more than $25m between 2020 and 2021, a period in which a rightwing obsession with transgender rights and sexual orientation saw almost 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in states around the US.
The surge in funding to the ADF, which has been termed an “anti-LGBTQ hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, saw it record revenue of $104.5m in 2021, according to filings with the Internal Revenue Service.
It has handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars of that newfound wealth to fringe organizations which have sought to diminish the rights of trans students in schools and the right for trans people to participate in sports, an investigation by the watchdog group Accountable.US has found.
The ADF, which was founded in 1994 by a group of “leaders in the Christian community”, according to its website, has also given money to groups involved in efforts to ban books which address LGBTQ+ topics, and to organizations which seek to ban abortion.
It comes as Republican politicians and commentators continue to wage a culture war in the US. In June the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, declared a “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ people in the US, citing “an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year”.
An HRC report this month found that 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were signed into law in the first five months of 2023 – more than double the entire amount passed in 2022.
“Alliance Defending Freedom is a recognized anti-LGBTQ hate group working to build a movement of far-right legal groups to force a dangerous, unpopular agenda on Americans,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, a progressive organization which researches the finances and activities of special interest groups.
“From ADF’s involvement with a supreme court case contesting critical LGBTQ rights to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding ADF has granted to anti-democratic organizations, ADF’s goal is to strip Americans of their rights and undermine democracy.”
The ADF’s most high-profile current case is the lawsuit 303 Creative, Inc v Elenis, which the supreme court decided on Friday.
The plaintiff, 303 Creative, is a website design company. 303 Creative has never made wedding websites, but its owner, Lorie Smith, claimed her first amendment rights were infringed because, if she were to start making wedding websites, she would not want to make them for same-sex couples – which would violate Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws. The court found in 303’s favor.
The ADF’s rightwing advocacy extends further, however, as the organization has donated to more than a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion groups.
Accountable.US found that the ADF donated $85,000 to the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, a group which, according to a Politico report, helped Florida Republicans shape the state’s so-called “don’t say gay” law, which prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The group has also sued two school districts in Florida over issues relating to the rights of trans youth. One case saw the Child and Parental Rights Campaign sue the Leon county school district, complaining that teachers had allowed a child to choose their preferred pronouns. The case was dismissed by a judge in January.
The Women’s Liberation Front (WLF), a group which previously campaigned against the Obama administration providing protections for transgender students in schools, received $50,000 from the ADF the same year.
A self-described “radical feminist” organization, the WLF has been called an “anti-trans hate group” by Glaad, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and appears to have developed a specific focus on restricting trans children’s access to sports.
The WLF has partnered with rightwing organizations as it has attempted, and sometimes succeeded, to restrict trans people’s rights in the US. Members of the group have testified in support of legislation which restricts transgender treatments for youth in South Dakota, and have criticized Biden’s executive orders on gender identity.
Another beneficiary of the ADF’s largesse was the Kriegshauser Ney Law Group, which in 2022 brought a lawsuit, with the ADF, on behalf of a Kansas teacher who refused to use transgender or non-binary students’ preferred pronouns. The Geary county school district settled with the teacher for $95,000.
The Ethics and Public Policy Center, which filed an amicus brief supporting the ADF in the 303 Creative case, received $78,000. Leonard Leo, an influential rightwing activist who helped Donald Trump select three supreme court justices, serves as a director for the group, which has also supported a case which challenges FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.
“Alliance Defending Freedom and groups like it have grown thanks to a dark influence network of far-right funders,” Herrig said.
“In order to rein in these extremist groups, the key conservative players making up this network must be exposed for what they’re really doing: pushing an anti-democratic agenda to make sure they personally benefit.”
The ADF’s work comes amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rightwing demonization of trans people. Over 220 bills which “specifically target transgender and non-binary people” were introduced in the first four and a half months of 2023, the Human Rights Campaign found, with Florida, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas showing a particular relish for legislation which would affect trans rights.
At the national level, trans people are also under attack from the right. As the Republican presidential primary gears up, opposition to LGBTQ rights – and trans rights in particular – has become something of a litmus test for candidates, as they seek to win over a far-right GOP base.
“Alliance Defending Freedom is among the largest and most effective legal advocacy organizations dedicated to protecting the religious freedom and free speech rights of all Americans. Our record includes 14 supreme court victories since 2011 and over 400 victories protecting the free speech rights of students on college campuses,” said Jeremy Tedesco, senior vice-president of corporate engagement at the ADF.
Justin Unga, vice-president of strategic initiatives at the Human Rights Campaign, described the ADF as “one of the most dangerous elements in the anti-LGBTQ+ cause”, but said the group’s influence would not last forever.
In 2022, the Pew Research Center found that only 64% of Americans identified as Christian, down from 90% 50 years prior, and predicted that the number of Christians in the US would fall below 50% in the next 40 years.
The number of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+, meanwhile, is “surging dramatically, and will be an impact in future elections”, Unga said.
“[Groups like the ADF] will burn bright for a time like this, but when public opinion catches up, when demography catches up, we will see them fizzle out,” he said.
In the meantime, Unga said the Human Rights Campaign and other groups are engaged in efforts to highlight politicians’ record on LGBTQ+ rights, and to turn out the vote in key areas.
“All elected officials are still beholden to their constituents and the people they serve, the people who elect them,” Unga said.
“We’ve identified over 60 million what we call ‘equality voters’: voters who are motivated by issues of equality. They are people who pay attention to whether or not the candidate or elected official votes to advance protections for LGBTQ+ folks or votes to oppose them.”
He added: “We will turn our voters out in support of our candidates and we intend to do that at every level of government from state legislatures to the White House.”
