In "honor" of the retirement of Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy, one thing I intend on doing is to double down on exposing the anti-LGBTQ hate groups which are trying to undermine LGBTQ equality under the guise of freedom and religious liberty. Make no mistake about it no matter what they say, the goal of the ao-called pro-family and morality groups is the destruction of LGBTQ equality and safety.
One group which I haven't actually focused on thoroughly is the Alliance Defending Freedom. That group is a bunch of trained right-wing lawyers working behind the scenes to craft arguments against LGBTQ equality. They don't get as much public attention as groups like the Family Research Council or the American Family Association, but they are very good at what they do.
According to Media Matters, ADF has its hooks in many attempts to curtail LGBTQ equality from undermining the rights of transgender students, to attempting to keep gays from adopting children, to pushing Trump's anti-transgender troop ban. It's a juggernaut of quiet, but carefully planned, highly skilled homophobia and bigotry.
Media Matters also said ADF has been active in countries like Jamaica and Belize to keep homosexuality criminalized. And it gets worse. Journalist Sarah Posner pointed out that the organization has infiltrated the American judiciary via its alumni members. Because of all these things, the Southern Poverty Law Center has declared ADF to be a hate group with a long history.
However, the organization continues to get away unscathed, even racking up recent victories arguing in front of the Supreme Court. How does ADF get away with it?
A carefully cultivated image. Their spokespeople are trained in talking to the media. More importantly via its youtube channel, ADF covers its homophobia under the guise of religious liberty protectors. These highly slick productions are what one can expect from an organization with an over $30 million budget and, as SPLC puts it, a pro bono network of lawyers numbering in the thousands.
One such video is as follows:
That's a good video. Too bad it's not the reality. This is.
One group which I haven't actually focused on thoroughly is the Alliance Defending Freedom. That group is a bunch of trained right-wing lawyers working behind the scenes to craft arguments against LGBTQ equality. They don't get as much public attention as groups like the Family Research Council or the American Family Association, but they are very good at what they do.
According to Media Matters, ADF has its hooks in many attempts to curtail LGBTQ equality from undermining the rights of transgender students, to attempting to keep gays from adopting children, to pushing Trump's anti-transgender troop ban. It's a juggernaut of quiet, but carefully planned, highly skilled homophobia and bigotry.
Media Matters also said ADF has been active in countries like Jamaica and Belize to keep homosexuality criminalized. And it gets worse. Journalist Sarah Posner pointed out that the organization has infiltrated the American judiciary via its alumni members. Because of all these things, the Southern Poverty Law Center has declared ADF to be a hate group with a long history.
However, the organization continues to get away unscathed, even racking up recent victories arguing in front of the Supreme Court. How does ADF get away with it?
A carefully cultivated image. Their spokespeople are trained in talking to the media. More importantly via its youtube channel, ADF covers its homophobia under the guise of religious liberty protectors. These highly slick productions are what one can expect from an organization with an over $30 million budget and, as SPLC puts it, a pro bono network of lawyers numbering in the thousands.
One such video is as follows:
That's a good video. Too bad it's not the reality. This is.
The point, however is that the first video resonates, no matter how untrue it is. And it underscores just how media-savvy and how moneyed (over a $30 million budget) ADF is. Our defense is truth constantly repeated, loudly and unapologetically
No matter who may sit on the Supreme Court, if we are going to win this fight, we need to be a bit more vocal in calling groups out like ADF and also making sure the media does its job to call them out.
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