Tag Archives: Alliance Defending Freedom

“The Arizona decision is one of the strongest and most well-written decisions on free speech that I’ve seen in my career. In fact, the decision itself opens by saying that free speech and free exercise rights are not limited to the soft murmurings that go on in churches or private homes, but that all Americans have the right to be …

The Phoenix New Times reports: In a 4-3 opinion, The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Phoenix-based Brush & Nib Studio, a small business that refused to produce wedding invitations for LGBTQ couples. The case pitted the business owners against the city of Phoenix, with key elements including the concepts of artistic freedom, religious rights, and anti-discrimination laws. …

Courthouse News reports: The Eighth Circuit paved the way Friday for two Christian videographers to subvert a Minnesota nondiscrimination law that would make them film gay weddings. Carl and Angel Larsen are the husband-and-wife team behind Telescope Media Group. Though they challenged the Minnesota Human Rights Act as unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis dismissed their case after …

From the far-right Washington Times: Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday he was surprised by media criticism of his wife’s decision to teach art at a school with devout Christian beliefs, and said he’s gotten lots of practice in forgiving his critics. He was speaking to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian religious liberty organization, and ADF CEO Michael Farris …

The National Christian Foundation reportedly raised over $1.5 billion in tax-exempt donations in 2017 and a lot of that money is being devoted to groups which advocate for imprisoning LGBT persons around the world. Alex Kotch reports at Sludge: The nation’s eighth-largest public charity is pouring tens of millions of dollars each year into a number of mostly anti-LGBT hate …

From the Alliance Defending Freedom: First Amendment advocates point out that “equality acts” in states and cities are wielded as weapons to silence creative professionals who serve all but cannot in good conscience communicate every message — particularly messages affirming others’ claimed genders or same-sex marriages. These laws and their spin-offs are used to censor counselors; silence filmmakers, painters, graphic …

The Huffington Post reports: The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Allison Jones Rushing, 37, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, making her the youngest federal judge in the country. The Senate voted 53-44 to put Rushing into the lifetime court seat. Every Republican present voted for her. Every Democrat present opposed her. Democrats raised a number …

Hemant Mehta reports at The Friendly Atheist: Arizona citizens have been inadvertently funding a Christian hate group whenever they pay the fee for the specialty “In God We Trust” license plate. It’s not public knowledge that a large portion of that fee goes to Alliance Defending Freedom, and State Sen. Juan Mendez has filed two bill intended to make that …

Hemant Mehta reports at The Friendly Atheist: If you want to buy the specialty “In God We Trust” license plate in Arizona, the state says that $17 of your $25 annual fee “goes to promote the national motto ‘In God We Trust’, 1st amendment rights and the heritage of this state and nation.” What the state doesn’t tell anyone publicly …

From the far-right LifeSiteNews: An Orthodox Jewish psychotherapist in Brooklyn is suing New York City in federal court over its ban on counseling to treat unwanted homosexual attraction or gender confusion, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment’s guaranteed right to free speech. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is representing Dr. Dovid Schwartz of the Chabad Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Community …

ADF president Michael Farris writes for the Daily News: If former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn truly wanted to start a conversation, she certainly picked an odd way to do it. After all, branding the other side of an issue with the culturally toxic “hater” label isn’t exactly the best way to reach across the aisle. Quinn and a coalition …

The Alliance Defending Freedom, arguably the most successful and most viciously anti-LGBT Christian hate group, now has one of their own speaking for the DOJ. The Daily Beast reports: The Justice Department officially has a new top spokesperson: Kerri Kupec has been named director of its Office of Public Affairs, The Daily Beast has learned. Sarah Isgur Flores, the previous …

NBC News reports: Surrounded by the skyscrapers that tower over Times Square, a new billboard went up this week that in large black letters reads: “NO GAYS ALLOWED.” Just below, a smaller message states: “STOP Alliance Defending Freedom. Learn more at NoGays.org.” The billboard is part of a new campaign that aims to draw attention to the conservative Christian legal …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: DFLer Keith Ellison was elected Minnesota attorney general, defeating Republican Doug Wardlow in a bitterly contested race that attracted national attention from both political parties. In a campaign marked by allegations of domestic abuse and an intense spotlight on their pasts, the candidates presented voters with starkly different visions for how they would lead the office …

Bloomberg Law reports: The Justice Department today told the U.S. Supreme Court that businesses can discriminate against workers based on their gender identity without violating federal law. Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the high court that a civil rights law banning sex discrimination on the job doesn’t cover transgender bias. That approach already has created a rift within the Trump …

Reuters reports: A two-day referendum to change Romania’s constitution so same-sex couples cannot secure the right to marry failed to meet the required 30 percent voter turnout to be validated, a preliminary estimate from an opposition party showed on Sunday. Opposition Save Romania Union (USR) said they estimated voter turnout stood at 19.5 percent when polls closed at 1800 GMT. …

The Associated Press reports: Romanian Senators approved a measure that could pave the way for the constitution to be changed to explicitly state that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. Senators on Tuesday voted 107-13 with seven abstentions to allow a referendum that could change the constitution, which currently states that marriage is a union between …

The Denver Post reports: The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop has sued Gov. John Hickenlooper and state civil rights officials, claiming Colorado has renewed its religious persecution by investigating him — in defiance of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision — for refusing to create a cake commemorating gender transition. Jack Phillips of Lakewood brought the lawsuit late Tuesday night in …

From the Southern Poverty Law Center: During his campaign, President Trump promised to be “a real friend” to the LGBT community. Yet, yesterday, his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, lauded the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group that vilifies the LGBT community and promotes discrimination against it in the name of religion. What’s more, Sessions attacked the SPLC for calling the …

Media Matters reports: ADF [Alliance Defending Freedom] was one of the first to break the news of the July 30 “Religious Liberty Summit” in which the task force was announced, noting that the event would feature a panel including the group’s client Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple and who …