Editing Alliance Defending Freedom (section)

==Reception==

Principal concerns of the ADF have been [[Abortion law|prohibiting abortion]] and opposing [[LGBT rights in the United States|gay rights]]. Several founding members wrote books condemning [[homosexuality]], including longtime president Alan Sears, who authored the 2003 book ''The Homosexual Agenda'',<ref name="sears-agenda" /><ref name="sessions task force" /> and Marlin Malloux, who wrote 1994's ''Answers to the Gay Deception''.<ref name="gay-deception" /> D. James Kennedy dismissed same-sex marriage as "counterfeit"<ref name="firewall" /> and promoted pseudoscientific [[conversion therapy]],<ref name="kennedy-same-sex" /> which helped launch a ministry aiming to help gay people "overcome" homosexuality.<ref name="dobson-exodus" /><ref name="love-out" />

In July 2017, U.S. sitting Attorney General [[Jeff Sessions]] attended ADF's Summit on Religious Liberty. LGBTQ rights groups criticized Sessions for his participation at the event. [[Dominic Holden]] wrote in ''[[BuzzFeed News]]'' that ADF's growing influence within the federal government can be attributed to Sessions' support.<ref name="sessions-adf" /><ref name="holden" />

''[[The Nation]]'', a [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] monthly magazine, describes ADF as a vanguard evangelical Christian legal advocacy group.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lehmann |first1=Chris |title=The Vanguard Party of the Christian Right |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/alliance-defending-freedom/ |website=The Nation |date=5 October 2023}}</ref> After the Supreme Court overturned ''Roe v. Wade'', ''[[Politico]]'' and ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' identified ADF as being a prominent organization for battling conservative legal causes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ward |first1=Ian |title=They Took Down Roe. Now They're Fighting Abortion Pills. How Far is Alliance Defending Freedom Willing to Go? |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/03/25/head-of-alliance-defending-freedom-kristen-waggoner-speaks-on-mifepristone-00148565 |website=Politico |language=en |date=25 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilsinan |first1=Kathy |title='Josh Is a Show Pony. Erin Is a Workhorse.' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/23/erin-hawley-abortion-pill-supreme-court-00142493 |website=Politico |language=en |date=23 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dias |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Lerer |first2=Lisa |title=The Untold Story of the Network That Took Down Roe v. Wade |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/magazine/roe-v-wade-christian-network.html |website=The New York Times |date=28 May 2024}}</ref> The organization's international division provides legal support to people who align with its American causes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ott |first1=Haley |last2=Lyons |first2=Emmet |title=How the group behind the Supreme Court abortion drug case is expanding its fight globally - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alliance-defending-freedom-adf-supreme-court-abortion-drug-case-global/ |publisher=CBS News |date=14 June 2024}}</ref>

The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] listed the organization as an extremist anti-LGBTQ hate group in 2016.<!-- as with the lead, don't remove this without first getting consensus on the talk page. --> The group's designation "was a judgment call that went all the way up to top leadership at the SPLC."<ref name="postmag">{{Cite news |last=Montgomery |first=David |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/08/feature/is-the-southern-poverty-law-center-judging-hate-fairly/ |title=The State of Hate |date=November 8, 2018 |access-date=December 27, 2018 |work=[[The Washington Post Magazine]] |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924230017/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/08/feature/is-the-southern-poverty-law-center-judging-hate-fairly/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the SPLC, the ADF was included on the list due to the group's filing of an [[amicus brief]] in the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'', in which the ADF expressed support for upholding the state's right to criminalize consensual sexual acts between people of the same sex.<ref name="nbc" /> The SPLC has described the ADF as "virulently [[anti-gay]]".<ref name="splc-profile" /><ref name="war on krishna" /> The SPLC describes the group's mission as "making life as difficult as possible for LGBT communities in the U.S. and internationally."<ref name="nbc" /> The ADF has opposed its inclusion on the SPLC's list.<ref name="postmag" /> Farris has called the SPLC's designation of ADF as a hate group a "troubling smear" and "slander".<ref name="nat-review" />

In regards to anti-trans legislation efforts made by ADF, organizations such as [[GLAAD]] and the [[Human Rights Campaign]] (HRC) have claimed that ADF works with other extremist groups to oppress marginalized people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/19/alliance-defending-freedom-lgbtq-rights-america|title=Well-funded Christian group behind US effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights|website=The Guardian|date=June 19, 2023|author=Adam Gabbatt|access-date=February 20, 2025}}</ref> In 2022, ADF authored at least 130 bills in 34 states; more than 30 were passed into law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrc.org/news/alliance-defending-freedom-staunch-enemy-of-equality|title=Alliance Defending Freedom: Staunch Enemy of Equality|publisher=HRC|date=January 22, 2024|access-date=February 20, 2025}}</ref>

Some opponents of the Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement have voiced concern about permitting churches to endorse politicians because it would allow political donors to remain anonymous and to get tax breaks for their donations.<ref name="declaw" /> Unlike other [[Non-profit organization|non-profits]], churches are not required to make financial disclosures, so churches endorsing politicians could act as funnels for anonymous campaign donations, or "[[dark money]]".<ref name="vile-johnson" />