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Focus on the Family is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s. As of the 2017 tax filing year, Focus on the Family declared itself to be a church, "primarily to protect the confidentiality of our donors." Traditionally, entities considered churches have been ones that have regular worship services and congregants.
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 Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that works to expand Christian religious liberties and practices within public schools and in government, outlaw abortion, and oppose LGBTQ rights. ADF is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, with branch offices in several locations including Washington, D.C., and New York. Its international subsidiary, Alliance Defending Freedom International, with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, operates in over 100 countries.
A Family Policy Council (FPC) is one of several US state-level organizations affiliated with Focus on the Family (FotF), a nationwide conservative Christian organization. Family Policy Councils work for policies that FotF describes as "pro-family". These include opposition to same-sex marriage, LGBT adoption, and LGBT workplace protections, and support for abstinence-only sex education, increased legal restrictions on abortion and traditional Christian gender roles. FPCs also work to shape public opinion, organize political demonstrations, and cultivate future politicians.
The Family Institute of Connecticut is an interdenominational, conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1989. Its stated goal is to encourage and strengthen the family as the foundation of society and to promote Judeo-Christian ethical and moral values in the culture and government of Connecticut.
The Thomas More Society is a conservative Roman Catholic public-interest law firm based in Chicago. The group has been engaged in many "culture war" issues, promoting its anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage beliefs through litigation. The society filed cases as part of Donald Trump's failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump was defeated.
Minnesota Family Council (MFC) is an American Christian organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 1983. MFC is a family policy council affiliated with Focus on the Family and Alliance Defending Freedom. The organization advocates for the passage of socially conservative policies in the state. It also produces voter guides to encourage its supporters to elect conservative lawmakers. After registering as a political action committee in 2011, MFC has lobbied against abortion and same-sex marriage, and in favor of single-sex school bathroom and athletics policies.
The American Principles Project (APP) is a socially conservative 501(c)(4) political advocacy group founded in 2009 by Robert P. George, Jeff Bell, and Francis P. Cannon. It is chaired by Sean Fieler. It is led by Terry Schilling, the son of the late former U.S. Representative Bobby Schilling. The organization has an affiliated super PAC, the American Principles Project PAC, which receives significant funding from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. It also has an affiliated 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank, the American Principles Project Foundation.
The platform of the Republican Party of the United States has historically since 1912 been based on American conservatism, contrasting with the modern liberalism of the Democratic Party. The positions of the Republican Party have evolved over time. Currently, the party's fiscal conservatism includes support for lower taxes, gun rights, government conservatism, free market capitalism, free trade, deregulation of corporations, and restrictions on labor unions. The party's social conservatism includes support for gun rights outlined in the Second Amendment, the death penalty, and other traditional values, often with a Christian foundation, including restrictions on abortion. In foreign policy, Republicans usually favor increased military spending, strong national defense, and unilateral action. Other Republican positions include opposition to illegal immigration, drug legalization, pornography and affirmative action, as well as support for school choice, and school prayer.
Family Policy Alliance (FPA), formerly CitizenLink and Focus on the Family Action, is an American conservative Christian organization that acts as the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family at the level of state government politics. It is an umbrella organization for an "alliance" of state organizations known as Family Policy Councils which are state-level Focus on the Family affiliates.
Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA) is a fundamentalist Christian 501(c)(3) organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska. It most prominently lobbies against LGBT rights, such as same-sex marriage and LGBT adoption. The NFA also seeks legal restrictions on abortion, and to change public policy on gambling and human trafficking. It advocates for traditional family structures and gender roles.
Colorado Family Action (CFA) was a Christian fundamentalist lobbying organization founded in 2007. It opposed gay marriage or domestic partnership, gay adoption, and adoption by unmarried people. The organization advocated for conversion therapy, the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change sexual orientation. It fought against birth control access and legal marijuana.
Wisconsin Family Council (WFC) is an American 501(c)(3) group that advocates for Christian fundamentalist policy. WFC's Madison, Wisconsin headquarters also house its 501(c)(4) government lobbying arm, Wisconsin Family Action. It was founded as Family Research Institute of Wisconsin by Marvin Munyon in 1986, patterned on the Family Research Institute.
Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) is a lobbying organization focused upon implementing conservative Christian sexual morality in public policy. It was originally known as Citizens for Community Values until Feb 2021. It operates primarily in the US state of Ohio and is the Family Policy Council for that state, with branches in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Kentucky.
Family Foundation of Virginia is a socially conservative and Christian fundamentalist lobbying organization headquartered in the US city of Richmond, Virginia. It was focused originally on opposition to sex education. It has expanded to opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, nondiscrimination policies, and same-sex marriage. The organization supports legal conversion therapy for minors and increased legal restriction on abortion.
The Christian Civic League of Maine is a political lobbying group founded to support prohibition of alcohol and later advocating for various conservative Christian policies in the government of the US state of Maine. It is the Focus on the Family affiliate organization for Maine, and its policy priorities today resemble that of this parent organization. It has worked to oppose same-sex marriage and adoption, to censor pornography, to oppose gambling, to legally permit LGBT employment discrimination, and to support conversion therapy.
Palmetto Family Council is a nonprofit public policy organization focused upon implementing conservative Christian ideas in South Carolina state law, especially concerning sexual morality. It opposes same-sex marriage, sex education, and vaccination against sexually transmitted infection. It supports restrictions on abortion and pornography. It works to place symbols of Christianity into schools and civic institutions, violating the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Similar national groups include the Family Research Council, a domestic hate group.
Family Watch International (FWI) is a fundamentalist Christian lobbying organization. Founded in 1999, the organization opposes homosexuality, legal abortion, birth control, comprehensive sex education, and other things that it regards as threats to the divinely ordained "natural family." It has a strong presence in Africa, where it promotes conservative policy and attitudes about sexuality through its United Nations (UN) consultative status.
References
- ↑ "Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Clarkson, Frederick (1999). "Takin' It to the States" (PDF). The Public Eye. Vol. XIII, no. 2/3. pp. 8–12. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Shurr, Alisha (May 28, 2019). "From lawmaker to lobbyist, Joe Ortwerth retiring from public life in Missouri". The Missouri Times. Jefferson City, Missouri. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Gurecki, Gary (January 30, 2014). "Association Profile: Missouri Family Policy Council". The Missouri Times. Jefferson City, Missouri. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Salter, Jim (February 12, 2014). "ACLU to challenge state's gay marriage rules". St. Joseph News-Press. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Ortwerth, Joe (June 28, 2011). "Pro-Family Leaders Decry NY Vote to Redefine Marriage". Jeff City Update. Jefferson City, Missouri. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Blank, Chris (January 10, 2014). "Join tax returns for Missouri gay couples spur suit". St. Joseph News-Press. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Lieb, David A. (November 16, 2011). "State court upholds strip club restrictions". The Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ↑ "Missouri pro-life law will increase scrutiny of abortion sellers". Family Policy Alliance. Retrieved November 10, 2019.