Louisiana Family Forum

Last updated
Logo of the Louisiana Family Forum Louisiana Family Forum Logo.jpg
Logo of the Louisiana Family Forum

Louisiana Family Forum (LFF) is a social conservative non-profit group based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The organization supports Louisiana's covenant marriage law and opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. The group's stated mission is to "persuasively present biblical principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking." [1] According to its website the group "maintains a close working relationship with Focus on the Family and Family Research Council" and is part of a network of individual state Family Policy Councils.

Contents

History

Louisiana Family Forum was founded in Baton Rouge in 1998 by a group of citizens, including retired City Court Judge Darrell White, former State Representative Tony Perkins, and LSU law professor Katherine Spaht.

The organization is currently headed by Executive Director Gene Mills, while Judge White and former State Senator Dan Richey serve as consultants. Louisiana Family Forum is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. [2]

The Family Forum honors a Louisiana state legislator each year for the member's advocacy of moral principles and family values. [3]

Political advocacy

Louisiana Family Forum Action (LFF Action), is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt non-profit organization advocacy group formed by LFF. Dan Richey, who holds the title of Grassroots Coordinator for LFF Action, joined the organization as a consultant in 2005. Prior to his work with LFF Action, Richey was a paid consultant in David Vitter's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign. [4] Records show that Vitter's campaign employed Beryl Amedee of Gray in Terrebonne Parish, then the LFF Education Resource Council chairman and currently the District 51 Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. [4] In 2007, Amedee was named LFF education chairman. [5]

2007 earmark

In September 2007, U.S. Senator Vitter earmarked $100,000 in a health and education financing bill for fiscal year 2008; the earmark specifies payment to the Louisiana Family Forum "to develop a plan to promote better science education." [4] This received national attention and was later cut from the bill after Vitter yielded to opposing political pressure. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Vitter</span> American politician (born 1961)

David Bruce Vitter is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who represented Louisiana in the United States Senate from 2005 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris John (politician)</span> American politician (born 1960)

Christopher Charles John is an American politician and lobbyist who from 1997 to 2005 served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 7th congressional district, since disbanded and merged into the 3rd district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumer Federation of America</span> Consumer group

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Perkins (politician)</span> Christian political figure in the United States

Anthony Richard Perkins is an American politician and evangelical lobbyist. He is president of the Family Research Council, a Christian conservative policy and lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C. Perkins, an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, was previously a police officer and television reporter, served two terms as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002. On May 14, 2018, he was appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, and on June 17, 2019, the Commission elected him Chairman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Jenkins</span> American politician

Louis Elwood Jenkins Jr., known as Woody Jenkins, is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge and Central City, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Road Park Observatory</span> Observatory

Highland Road Park Observatory or Baton Rouge Observatory is an astronomical observatory jointly operated by Louisiana State University's astronomy department, Baton Rouge Astronomical Society, and The Recreation & Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. It is in Baton Rouge, in the U.S. state of Louisiana, in Highland Road Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henson Moore</span> American politician, attorney and businessman

William Henson Moore III is an American attorney and businessman who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, having represented Louisiana's 6th congressional district, based about Baton Rouge, from 1975 to 1987. He was only the second Republican to have represented Louisiana in the House since Reconstruction, the first having been David C. Treen, then of Jefferson Parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Louisiana</span> Politics of a U.S. state

The politics of Louisiana involve political parties, laws and the state constitution, and the many other groups that influence the governance of the state. The state was a one-party Deep South state dominated by the Democratic Party from the end of Reconstruction to the 1960s, forming the backbone of the "Solid South." This was due to the near-total disenfranchisement of the state's large African-American population during this time, who mostly voted Republican. The Civil Rights era turned the state into a competitive one on the federal level, as it voted for the nationwide winner in every election between 1972 and 2004. It remained Democratic on the state and local level until the turn of the 21st century, allowing Republicans to win control of the state legislature and every statewide office in 2011. Republicans won a United States Senate seat for Louisiana in the election of 2004, for the first time since 1876. Republicans captured both seats in the election of 2014 for the first time since 1872. In the election of 2008, the state voted for a losing presidential candidate for the first time since 1968. Democrats won less than 40% of the presidential popular vote in the state in the elections of 2016 and 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Cassidy</span> American physician and politician (born 1957)

William Morgan Cassidy is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Louisiana, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Louisiana State Senate from 2006 to 2009 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United States Senate election in Louisiana</span>

The 2010 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 2, 2010. Republican incumbent U.S. Senator David Vitter won re-election to a second term, becoming the first Republican ever to be re-elected to the United States Senate from Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education</span> Government agency of Louisiana, United States

The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is an administrative policy-making body for elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was created in the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, called by then Governor Edwin W. Edwards, and codified as Article VIII of the resulting document, the 1974 Louisiana Constitution.

The Louisiana Science Education Act, Act 473 (SB733) of 2008 is a controversial anti-evolution law passed by the Louisiana Legislature on June 11, 2008 and signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal on June 25. The act allows public school teachers to use supplemental materials in the science classroom which are critical of scientific theories such as evolution and global warming and to promote creationism as science. Louisiana was the first state to have passed a law of this type.

Charles Michael Futrell, known as Mike Futrell, is the city manager for Riverside, California. He is an attorney, a retired United States Navy officer, and a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Joseph Arthur Harrison, known as Joe Harrison, is an American politician and financial planner who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for the 51st district from 2008 to 2016. He formerly served on the board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative group of state legislators and private businesspersons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election</span> State election in the United States

The 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on November 21, 2015, to elect the governor of Louisiana. Incumbent Republican Governor Bobby Jindal was not eligible to run for re-election to a third term because of term limits established by the Louisiana Constitution.

Zachary "Zack" Sawyer Kopplin is an American political activist, journalist, and television personality from Louisiana. Kopplin has campaigned to keep creationism out of public school science classrooms and been involved with other separation of church and state causes. He has opposed school vouchers because they provide public money to schools which may teach creationism. As a high school student, he organized seventy-eight Nobel laureate scientists in a campaign against the Louisiana Science Education Act, a creationism law. He is also involved with science funding policy and curriculum and textbook policy. His new campaign calls for a launching Second Giant Leap for Humankind, calling for Barack Obama to invest $1 trillion in research and education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbert Guillory</span> American politician

Elbert Lee Guillory is a former member of the Louisiana State Senate. An American Republican, he represented District 24, including his native Opelousas, and several rural precincts, from May 2, 2009, when he won a special election, until January 11, 2016, when his full term to which he was elected in 2011 ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States Senate election in Louisiana</span> Election of John Neely Kennedy as US Senator.

The 2016 United States Senate election in Louisiana took place on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Louisiana, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States Senate election in Louisiana</span>

The 2022 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Louisiana. Incumbent Republican U.S. senator John Kennedy was first elected in 2016. He ran for re-election to a second term, and was re-elected after receiving a majority of votes in the first round.

Patricia Haynes Smith is an American politician who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2008 to 2020, representing District 67. Smith is affiliated with the Democratic party. Her platform focused on promoting access to healthcare and other resources for underprivileged communities and improving education in public schools.

References

  1. "Louisiana Family Forum: Our Mission" . Retrieved 2007-11-06.[ dead link ]
  2. Louisiana Secretary of State / Selected Business Detailed Data
  3. "LaFamilyForum". LaFamilyForum. Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 Walsh, David (September 22, 2007). "Vitter earmarked federal money for creationist group". Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  5. "Beryl Amedee, the new Chair of the Louisiana Family Forum Education Resource Council, has called a meeting of the group for Wednesday, March 21, 2007" |url=http://www.lafamilyforum.us/FFarchives/v9i11.htm%5B%5D>
  6. "Earmark for Louisiana creationist group?". National Center for Science Education. September 24, 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  7. "Senator Cuts $100,000 From Religious Group". The Pew Forum. October 19, 2007. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-06.