Alliance Defending Freedom
American Christian legal advocacy group / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group[6] that works to expand Christian religious liberties and practices within public schools and in government,[7][8] outlaw abortion,[9][10] and oppose LGBTQ rights.[11] ADF is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, with branch offices in several locations including Washington, D.C., and New York.[12] Its international subsidiary, Alliance Defending Freedom International, with headquarters in Vienna, Austria,[13] operates in over 100 countries.[14]
Abbreviation | ADF |
---|---|
Formation | March 25, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-03-25)[1] |
Type | Non-profit organization |
54-1660459 | |
Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona[2] |
Terry Schlossberg[3] | |
Kristen Waggoner[4] | |
Revenue (2022) | $104,490,113[5] |
Expenses (2022) | $81,311,475[5] |
Endowment (2022) | $20,295,829[5] |
Employees (2022) | 395[5] |
Volunteers (2022) | 1,351[5] |
Website | www |
Formerly called | Alliance Defense Fund |
ADF is one of the most organized and influential Christian legal interest groups in the United States[15] based on its budget, caseload, network of allied attorneys, and connections to significant members of the political right.[16][17][18] Mike Johnson, a former ADF attorney,[19][20] was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on October 25, 2023.[21][22] Others who have been associated with ADF include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett,[16][23] former vice president Mike Pence,[24] former attorneys general William Barr[25] and Jeff Sessions,[17][26] and Senator Josh Hawley.[27][28]
ADF attorneys have argued a number of cases before the Supreme Court, taking positions including support for religious activity in public school and Christian prayer at town meetings, narrowing insurance coverage for contraceptives, prohibiting same-sex marriage, and supporting businesses in the wedding industry that refuse to service gay marriages.[29] ADF lawyers wrote the model for Mississippi's anti-abortion legislation, leading to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to overrule Roe v. Wade that had established a right to abortion in America in 1973.[30]
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designates ADF as an anti-LGBT hate group, saying in 2017 that since the election of President Donald Trump ADF had become "one of the most influential groups informing the [Trump] administration's attack on LGBTQ rights."[11][31] The ADF has taken many anti-LGBT positions: it opposes same-sex marriage, decriminalization of same-sex sexual activity, and anti-discrimination laws, and takes an active role in writing model anti-transgender bills for state legislators.[11][32][33]