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Founded | March 28, 1990 |
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Founder | Penny Pullen |
Type | Non-profit 501(c)(3) |
37-1265883 (EIN) | |
Location | |
Area served | Illinois |
Key people | David E. Smith, Executive Director Dr. John J. Koehler, Chairman Dan Reynolds, President Pastor Richard Giovannetti, Secretary John Links, VP/Treasurer Kathy Valente, Director of Operations Laurie Higgins, Cultural analyst [2] |
Revenue | $340,600 (2011) [3] |
Website | illinoisfamily |
IFI Annual Revenue [3] [4] [5] | |
---|---|
Year | Revenue |
1993 | $141,460 |
1994 | $146,896 |
1995 | $220,842 |
1996 | $242,395 |
1997 | $368,035 |
1998 | $546,950 |
1999 | $347,008 |
1999 | $392,699 |
2000 | $219,144 |
2001 | $182,886 |
2002 | $211,422 |
2003 | $226,687 |
2004 | $296,318 |
2005 | $396,967 |
2006 | $410,343 |
2007 | $339,303 |
2008 | $323,073 |
2009 | $440,415 |
2010 | $649,087 |
2011 | $340,600 |
The Illinois Family Institute (IFI) is a Christian organization based in Tinley Park, Illinois. [1] Founded in 1990, its stated mission is "upholding and re-affirming marriage, family, life and liberty in Illinois", and it is affiliated with the American Family Association. [6] The organization's legislative arm is the 501(c)(4) lobbying group Illinois Family Action, founded in 2010. [7] The organization's executive director is David E. Smith, who in 2006, succeeded Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality. [8] [9]
IFI is a vocal opponent of abortion, separation of church and state, "activist judges", the "marriage penalty", civil unions, same-sex marriage, gambling and drug legalization. [10] [11] [12]
The Illinois Family Institute (IFI) was founded by former Illinois State Representative Penny Pullen as a nonprofit corporation on March 28, 1990, in Tinley Park, Illinois. [13] Pullen, whom President Ronald Reagan had appointed to the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic in 1987, [14] [15] served as IFI's first executive director starting on January 14, 1992. [16] [17]
IFI was founded as "an educational and grassroots action resource for public policy issues that affect Illinois citizens and their families". IFI is affiliated with organizations including Liberty Counsel, the American Family Association (AFA), and Alliance Defense Fund. IFI's executive director, David E. Smith, has been involved with the organization since March 2004. [18] [19]
In 2003, Peter LaBarbera was named head of the Focus on the Family affiliate, Illinois Family Institute. [18] LaBarbera previously worked at Concerned Women for America, and was the editor of an anti-gay journal called The Lambda Report on Homosexual Activism. [20] [21]
In 2006, Illinois Family Institute organized a drive to collect 345,199 signatures on petitions for "Protect Marriage Illinois", a proposed referendum to amend the Illinois constitution to declare that "marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State". [22] The same year, LaBarbera called for the repeal of legislation prohibiting discrimination against gays. He called homosexuality "disgusting" and expressed the "need to find ways to bring back shame to those practicing homosexual behavior". [23] Later that year, LaBarbera left IFI to return to a group he founded in 1996, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), which claims to be "dedicated to confronting the homosexual activist agenda" and is also designated as an anti-gay hate group by the SPLC. [18] [19] [24] [25] In August 2006, David E. Smith succeeded LaBarbera as IFI's Executive Director after having joined IFI in 2004 as a Senior Policy Analyst. [19]
Laurie Higgins joined IFI as cultural analyst and Kathy Valente joined as Director of operations in 2008. Higgins previously worked for Deerfield High School's writing center. Higgins resigned from IFI in January 2023. Valente was the state director for Concerned Women for America for four years prior to joining IFI. [26] [27]
In 2010, after Jim Daly of Focus on the Family announced plans to "cultivate a less severe image", IFI's Laurie Higgins responded "If the family is FOF's mission, then they better figure out how to stop the pro-homosexual juggernaut--nicely, of course--because soon every child from kindergarten through high school will be taught about 'diverse family structures' and Heather's two nice mommies". [28] [29]
In 2012, IFI called for parents to remove their children from classrooms led by teachers who support LGBT related instruction. In their document, Challenge Teachers, Not Books, they encouraged parents to "object to teachers rather than texts", offering suggestions for parents who are "fed up with the subtle and not so subtle messages that activist teachers of a liberal bent work into their classroom teaching through their classroom comments, curricular materials... and even their desks and classroom displays". [23] [30]
Illinois Family Institute opposes abortion, separation of church and state, "activist judges", and the "marriage penalty". They further oppose the recognition of civil unions, same-sex marriage and all laws recognizing or protecting non-heterosexual relationships or activity. They also oppose the expansion of gambling in Illinois [10] and drug legalization. IFI explicitly opposes "efforts to include 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' as a categories [sic] for preferential status under civil rights statutes at the federal, state and local levels". [11] [12]
IFI supports teaching of creationism in school as a way to present "both sides of an argument" even though a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling bars creationism from science classes on constitutional grounds, because it would tend to endorse religion or a particular religious belief. [31] [32]
As early as 1996, IFI consultants made recommendations to Illinois educators to keep explicit references to evolution out of public school classrooms in Illinois, a recommendation that was approved in July 1997. According to IFI, "those efforts enabled us to keep objectionable sex education and mandatory teaching of evolution out of the standards, leaving such issues to local control". [33] [34] IFI's efforts were credited with the then-unpublicized elimination of word from Illinois school curricula. [35]
When the State of Illinois passed legislation in 2011 creating the option of civil unions, IFI's Executive Director stated in an interview "Unfortunately, this social experiment will have a ripple effect on our culture that will touch every American and, most tragically, our children. What is happening here in Illinois is a tragic attempt by radical forces to advance a political agenda by using the authority of the government to validate wrong and unhealthy relationships." According to Smith, the IFI is concerned that through civil unions, children will be taught in school that homosexuality is normal and something they might want to try. [36]
Illinois Family Institute has been criticized for some of its positions, most notably their stances on LGBT issues. In 2009, Laurie Higgins, the directory of school advocacy for IFI said: "There was something profoundly good for society about the prior stigmatization of homosexual practice". [25] [37] The Institute has also strongly opposed speeches and presentations by Dan Savage of the It Gets Better Project which campaigns to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth. [38] [39]
IFI called for a boycott of U.S. retailer Target Corporation in 2004, after Target banned Salvation Army bell ringers from collecting donations in front of its stores, under pressure from LGBT advocacy groups. [40] [41] [42] IFI and the American Family Association threatened to boycott Kraft Foods and Harris Bank in 2005 for sponsoring the Gay Games, a gay and lesbian sporting event in Chicago; neither Kraft nor Harris Bank withdrew their sponsorship. [43] [44]
In 2012, Illinois state Senator Heather Steans, sponsored legislation that would require Illinois schools to discourage bullying by adopting anti-bullying policies. IFI and other conservative groups opposed the bill, claiming its real goal was "to use public education to promote unproven, non-factual beliefs about the nature and morality of homosexuality and 'transgenderism'." [45] IFI's Laurie Higgins has been an outspoken critic of efforts to stop LGBT-related bullying in schools. On IFI's website, Higgins wrote "If you care about children's temporal and eternal lives, please oppose any anti-bullying efforts in public schools that imply that homosexual behavior is worthy of affirmation." [46]
Higgins has expressed that she does not condone bullying and she believes it is reprehensible. She also states that "conservatives need to better understand how "progressives" (or more accurately, "transgressives") cynically exploit the issue of bullying to promote their causes and ideologies." She draws a distinction between bona fide bullying and simple ideological disagreement, primarily on First Amendment grounds. [47]
Illinois Family Institute was designated an anti-gay "hate group" in 2009 by the Southern Poverty Law Center. [48] [49] [25] The SPLC report stated that IFI was "heavily focused on attacking gay people and homosexuality in general." The SPLC further stated that the organization had "occasionally embraced the groundless propaganda of Paul Cameron", a researcher whose studies about the life expectancy of homosexuals the SPLC says have been "utterly discredited." Although IFI removed the Cameron advocacy from their website in 2009, SPLC maintains that IFI retains a "hard-line position" on homosexuality. [25] [50] [51] In its November 2010 Intelligence Report, the SPLC again listed IFI as an anti-gay hate group, citing rhetoric from Higgins which included the "likening the German Evangelical Church's weak response to fascism to the "American church's failure to respond appropriately to the spread of radical, heretical, destructive views of homosexuality". [25]
The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical 501(c)(3) non-profit activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, embryonic stem-cell research, abortion, divorce, and LGBT rights—such as anti-discrimination laws, same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions, and LGBT adoption. The FRC has been criticized by media sources and professional organizations such as the American Sociological Association for using "anti-gay pseudoscience" to falsely conflate homosexuality and pedophilia, and to falsely claim that the children of same-sex parents suffer from more mental health problems.
The American Family Association (AFA) is a conservative and Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States. It opposes LGBT rights and expression, pornography, and abortion. It also takes a position on a variety of other public policy goals. It was founded in 1977 by Donald Wildmon as the National Federation for Decency and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi.
The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) was an American conservative Christian organization. It was founded in 1980 at Anaheim California by Rev. Louis P. Sheldon to oppose LGBT rights. Sheldon's daughter, Andrea Sheldon Lafferty, was initially the executive director and presently serves as president. TVC was influential in the 1980s and 1990s in lobbying for government policy based in Christian fundamentalism.
The Family Research Institute (FRI), originally known as the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality (ISIS), is an American socially conservative non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado which states that it has "...one overriding mission: to generate empirical research on issues that threaten the traditional family, particularly homosexuality, AIDS, sexual social policy, and drug abuse". The FRI is part of a sociopolitical movement of socially conservative Christian organizations which seek to influence the political debate in the United States. They seek "...to restore a world where marriage is upheld and honored, where children are nurtured and protected, and where homosexuality is not taught and accepted, but instead is discouraged and rejected at every level." The Boston Globe reported that the FRI's 2005 budget was less than $200,000.
"Gay agenda" or "homosexual agenda" is a pejorative term used by sectors of the Christian religious right as a disparaging way to describe the advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual sexual orientations and relationships. The term originated among social conservatives in the United States and has been adopted in nations with active anti-LGBT movements such as Hungary and Uganda.
Mission: America is an American Christian right organization based in Columbus, Ohio and founded in 1995 that seeks to "cover the latest cultural and social trends in our country and what they might mean for Christians." The organization publishes articles on its web site about its views on homosexuality and paganism. Mission: America's founder and president, Linda Harvey, is an outspoken critic of LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Utah have significantly evolved in the 21st century. Protective laws have become increasingly enacted since 2014, despite the state's reputation as socially conservative and highly religious. Utah's anti-sodomy law was invalidated in 2003 by Lawrence v. Texas, and fully repealed by the state legislature in 2019. Same-sex marriage has been legal since the state's ban was ruled unconstitutional by federal courts in 2014. In addition, statewide anti-discrimination laws now cover sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing, and the use of conversion therapy on minors is prohibited. In spite of this, there are still a few differences between the treatment of LGBT people and the rest of the population, and the rights of transgender youth are restricted.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is a United States coalition that promotes Christian right values internationally. It opposes divorce, birth control, same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, while supporting a society built on "the voluntary union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage". WCF comprises organizations in several countries, and most of its member partners are strongly active campaigners against abortion rights and same-sex marriage. WCF was formed in 1997 and is active worldwide, regularly organizing conventions. Its opposition to gay marriage and abortion has attracted criticism.
MassResistance is an American organization that promotes anti-LGBT and socially conservative positions. The group is designated an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, in part for claims linking LGBT people with pedophilia and zoophilia, and claims that suicide prevention programs aimed at gay youth were created by homosexual activists to normalize and "lure" children into homosexuality.
Scott Douglas Lively is an American activist, author, and attorney, who is the president of Abiding Truth Ministries, an anti-LGBT group based in Temecula, California. He was also a cofounder of Latvia-based group Watchmen on the Walls, state director of the California branch of the American Family Association, and a spokesman for the Oregon Citizens Alliance. He unsuccessfully attempted to be elected as the governor of Massachusetts in both 2014 and 2018.
Abiding Truth Ministries (ATM) is a United States 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Scott Lively in Temecula, California in 1997. The ministry has been based in Springfield, Massachusetts, since 2008. Lively, an American author, attorney and activist, is noted for his opposition to LGBT rights and his involvement in the ex-gay movement. Lively has called for the criminalization of "the public advocacy of homosexuality" as far back as 2007. Along with Kevin E. Abrams, Lively co-authored the 1995 book The Pink Swastika, which states in the preface that "homosexuals [are] the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities." He is also directly linked to pending anti-gay legislation in Uganda, which would, if passed, make homosexual conduct punishable by a lengthy prison sentence or death. The Southern Poverty Law Center regards Abiding Truth Ministries as a hate group.
The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a socially conservative advocacy group of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals in the United States, founded in 2002. The group advocates against abortion rights and rights for LGBT people, and promotes conversion therapy. As of 2022, its membership has been reported at about 700 physicians.
Bryan Jonathan Fischer is the former Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association (AFA). He hosted the talk radio program Focal Point on American Family Radio and posted on the AFA-run blog Instant Analysis.
In the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have a long history, including vibrant subcultures and advocacy battles for social and religious acceptance and legal rights.
Peter LaBarbera is an American social conservative activist and the president of the anti-gay organization Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH).
Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) is an organization which describes its mission as "exposing the homosexual activist agenda". AFTAH rejects the idea that sexual orientation is innate and believes that people can "leave the homosexual lifestyle". AFTAH contends that there is a fundamental conflict between gay rights and religious freedom. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated it as an anti-LGBT hate group.
Parents Action League (PAL) is a citizens organization started in 2010 to oppose changes in the Anoka-Hennepin (Minnesota) School District 11 policy which limited discussions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues in district classrooms. PAL's roots go back as far as 1994, when one of its most-vocal members, Barb Anderson, successfully influenced the school district's board to exclude homosexuality from its sex-ed curriculum.
Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (HOME) is an American pro-heterosexuality, anti-homosexuality organization founded by Wayne Lela and based in Downers Grove, Illinois. The organization's aim is "to use science, logic, and natural law to expose all the flaws in the arguments homosexuals use to try to justify homosexual activity". The organization has been designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center "based on their propagation of known falsehoods".
SaveCalifornia.com is an American conservative activist group founded in 1999 by Randy Thomasson as part of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF). The organization is active in influencing public policy on various social issues, and has opposed California's FAIR Education Act.