![]() But no organization has played a more pivotal role than ADF in shaping and testing ‘religious freedom’ as the Christian right’s latest legal strategy in the culture wars. And it was the American Center for Law and Justice that won a major case in 2009 regarding the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. It was the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty that represented the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby in its successful lawsuit to gain a religious exemption to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to provide a contraception-coverage benefit. ADF also enjoys a large influence over the Trump administration, sending allied attorneys to cabinet jobs and federal judgeships.ĪDF sees LGBTQ and abortion rights as threats to religious liberty.ĪDF’s foundational belief is that conservative Christians face discrimination in American society, and that “religious liberty” must be protected to fight this “discrimination.” “This burgeoning ‘legal army’ has helped ADF advance its foundational narrative: that conservative Christians, in particular, face persecution in the United States. As of 2017, this “legal army,” as Sears called it, had won 49 SCOTUS cases by and donated over 1 million pro-bono legal hours to fight for ADF’s discriminatory causes. ADF now has over 3,000 “allied attorneys” who have sworn to oppose marriage equality, abortion access, and deny gender identities. Over the past 30 years, ADF has grown rapidly. Notably, ADF won a SCOTUS case which gave a business owner the ability to deny services to LGBTQ persons because of his “religious freedom.” ADF’s pioneering use of “religious freedom” has led to attacks on abortion access, birth control access, civil rights of LGBTQ people, and the separation of church and state. In short, ADF claims that first amendment protected “religious freedom” gives individuals a carte blanche right to discriminate against historically oppressed groups. Over time, ADF developed a language of “ religious freedom” to fight for the supremacy of the Christian right over others. Over the past 30 years, ADF has risen in the annals of American power, earning the distinction of “the most influential group working to roll back LGBTQ rights in America.” It has also been classified as a hate group. For more info: and Alliance Defending Freedom was founded in the early 1990s by a group of influential conservative Christian leaders including Focus on the Family’s James Dobson and Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright alongside Alan Sears (who infamously published a book on the “ homosexual agenda.”) The group was initially conceived as an alternative to the ACLU as the Christian right in the United States felt increasingly threatened by the LGBTQ and reproductive rights movements and the growing secularization of public life. She now lives in Albany, NY with her service dog-in-training and cat. Her dissertation topic is: "The Institutionalized "Community." She became involved with WE THE PEOPLE when the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights and MindFreedom International needed someone on the ground in Brooklyn, New York to coordinate a response where Esmin Green was murdered-by-neglect. Lauren, a Mad-Activist/ Artist/ Author/ Academic/ Adjunct Professor is coordinating The Opal Project, an outcome of participatory action research she coordinated for field research in the PhD program in Environmental Psychology at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Of particular concern are the elimination of forced electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) on people of all ages, but particularly children and senior citizens, forced drugging, restraints, seclusion, behavioral interventions, and coercion of any kind. Her goal is to help stop forced psychiatric procedures, detainment, and confinement, human rights violations, psychiatric abuse and torture. ![]() She has been involved with the user and survivor movement since 1992. First involuntarily institutionalized, at 15, Lauren Tenney is a survivor of psychiatry.
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