Alliance Defending Freedom's Complete Track Record on LGBTQ Issues
The Christian legal group has been working to dismantle queer rights since the early 1990s.
Since 2020, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has made headlines for a series of sweeping decisions that have rolled back rights for women and LGBTQ people. They’ve ruled to allow abortion bans in 13 states and bans on trans athletes in 27 states. And this year, Colorado overturned its ban on conversion therapy for minors.
What headlines tend to miss, though, is that all of these decisions were won by the same legal group: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Labeled as an anti-LGBTQ hate group and active in over 80 countries, ADF is a conservative Christian legal powerhouse, having fought relentlessly against abortion, gay marriage and trans healthcare since its inception in 1994.
Boasting alumni and affiliates such as Mike Johnson, Amy Coney Barrett, Josh Hawley and Ken Starr, the group has been involved in at least 80 SCOTUS victories and directly represented parties in 20 of them, including the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Here is every move ADF has made on LGBTQ issues since it was founded 32 years ago.
Jan. 31, 1994
ADF, then called Alliance Defense Fund, is introduced to the public at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Washington, D.C., as a Christian counter to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Alan Sears, co-author of “The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today” and former federal prosecutor under the Reagan Administration, is named president and CEO. James Dobson, the founder of Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group Focus on the Family, is a co-founder, along with several other conservative Christian men.
June 29, 1995
In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS rules in Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia that state universities may not withhold funding from religious student publications. ADF provides financial backing to Wide Awake: A Christian Perspective, the campus magazine at the center of the lawsuit.
The case becomes an early model for ADF’s strategy of financing carefully selected cases with the goal of establishing nationwide precedent concerning the expansion of religious rights that override anti-discrimination policies.
1997
ADF establishes its Allied Attorney network, which recruits and trains Christian attorneys in constitutional law. The network allows ADF to participate in substantially more litigation than it could when it relied on in-house staff.
Today, there are over 5,000 attorneys within the network who are directed to “provide pro bono, dedicated service to the Body of Christ” and “to fight boldly for Generational Wins on five fronts—religious freedom, the sanctity of life, free speech, marriage and family, and parental rights.” These attorneys have included shareholders in the biggest law firms in the country; former Attorneys General Kevin Clarkson of Alaska and Timothy Fox of Montana; director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice Kerri Kupec; and some federal judges.
2000
ADF launches the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a summer internship program that provides legal training for Christian law students. Blackstone’s curriculum includes Sears’ “The Homosexual Agenda” and “The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values.”
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have both worked for Blackstone in the past.
June 28, 2000
In Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, SCOTUS decides 5-4 that the Boy Scouts have a constitutional right to bar gay people from serving as troop leaders. ADF helps fund and coordinate amicus briefs supporting the Boy Scouts.
June 26, 2003
In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS strikes down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas. Before the ruling, ADF files an amicus brief in support of Texas, writing that banning same-sex conduct is a matter of rational public health policy and that “same-sex behavior is not like a racial classification when it comes to establishing equal protection claims.” The filing argues that the nature of anal sex is a further argument for the ban:
“One reason that men who have sex with men are at high risk of STDs is the nature of anal sex. … The nature of the anus and rectum and the trauma that may accompany receptive anal sex makes anal sex an efficient mode of transmitting disease.”
April 14, 2005
In response to the “Day of Silence,” a campaign created in 1996 to spread awareness about the bullying LGBTQ students face, ADF launches “Day of Truth,” an annual campaign that encourages Christian students to express opposition to homosexuality at school. ADF provides students with talking points to portray opposition to homosexuality as a matter of religious freedom. Current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, then an ADF attorney, says at the time of being gay: “You can call it sinful or destructive — ultimately it’s both.”
2008
ADF launches ADF International (ADFI), a legal group conducting targeted advocacy in major international institutions. Currently, ADFI says it has 662 open matters, 40 wins at the European Court of Human Rights and more than an 80% success rate. Central to their agenda is opposition to abortion, marriage equality, trans rights and legalization of gay sex.
Nov. 4, 2008
In a blow to gay rights, California voters approve Proposition 8, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. ADF is a central legal participant in the campaign.
June 28, 2010
In Christian Legal Society Chapter v. Martinez, SCOTUS rules that public schools can require student organizations to accept all applicants in order to be eligible for official school recognition and funding. ADF represents a student group that requires all officers and voting members to take a mandatory faith statement and bans “unrepentant homosexual conduct.”
Jan. 18, 2012
In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Sears is asked about why he believes the so-called homosexual agenda poses a threat. In response, he says:
“Because no compromise is possible with the agenda, and those who advocate the agenda want to not only stop all disagreement — they want to punish anyone who does. It’s a form of totalitarianism.”
Feb. 7, 2012
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court decision that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. The court holds that California could not grant same-sex couples the right to marry and then withdraw that right without a legitimate governmental justification. ADF appeals the decision and the case is renamed Hollingsworth v. Perry.
Four months later, the Ninth Circuit denies the appeal to rehear the case and ADF appeals to SCOTUS, having run the gauntlet of lower-court processes. This ability to play the long game is central to ADF’s future successes.
July 9, 2012
ADF changes its name from Alliance Defense Fund to Alliance Defending Freedom. Sears says, “Our mission remains the same — defending religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family. … The emphasis remains on the word ‘alliance.’”
July 19, 2012
Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins, an engaged gay couple, visit Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, to place an order for their wedding. But the owner, Jack Phillips, denies the request, citing his religious opposition to gay marriage. The couple files a discrimination complaint under Colorado’s public-accommodations law, and ADF represents Phillips in court. ADF argues that Phillips is an artist and that free expression is uniquely tied to his business. This becomes key to ADF’s future legal battles, claiming an inextricable link between speech, faith and services provided.
Sept. 4, 2012
ADF lawyers give oral arguments at the European Court of Human Rights in Ladele and McFarlane v. United Kingdom, a case where a marriage registrar and couples’ counselor were disciplined for refusing certain services to gay couples. The court rules against both of them the following year, representing a loss for ADF and a win for gay rights in the U.K.
Dec. 11, 2012
In Ward v. Polite, graduate counseling student Julea Ward at Eastern Michigan University refuses to provide counseling to a client who requested it for their gay relationship. Ward says she refused to see the client because the issue conflicted with her Christian beliefs. After she is expelled from the graduate program, she sues the school. ADF represents Ward and the case is settled out of court.
June 26, 2013
SCOTUS hands down two landmark decisions in the fight for marriage equality. In Hollingsworth v. Perry, they rule 5-4 that Prop 8’s proponents lack standing to appeal the district court’s decision to strike down the measure. The ruling ends ADF’s attempt to preserve Prop 8 and allows gay marriages to resume in California.
June 30, 2014
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, SCOTUS rules 5-4 that for-profit companies can deny employees health coverage for contraception they’d otherwise be entitled to based on the owner’s religious beliefs. ADF represents Conestoga Wood Specialties, whose case is consolidated with Hobby Lobby’s.
The ruling strengthens the legal principle underlying ADF’s LGBTQ work: that religious objections may entitle private entities to exemptions from generally applicable federal requirements.
Aug. 11, 2014
ADF sends an email to the American College of Pediatricians, another SPLC-designated hate group, requesting that they produce research that could help support anti-trans litigation. It requests support for several arguments that would later become its key talking points:
“Substantiate the psychological harm that can befall both sexes (but girls/women especially) by having their right to bodily privacy invaded by males.”
“Substantiate that it is normal during adolescence for children to go through a phase when they identify (to some degree) with the opposite sex.”
“Substantiate the physiological differences between males and females as they relate to sports.”
“For those who have undergone hormone therapy and genital change surgery, a paper that says they are no happier (and perhaps worse off if the research supports it) even though they took these drastic measures.”
“Biological/medical paper on the many differences (brain, anatomy, physiology, etc) between the sexes from the earliest stages of human development and moving forward. This would help substantiate the point that a person’s brain is not and cannot be hard-wired to be an opposite sex than the sex his or her chromosomes, DNA, and anatomy say he or she is.”
Feb. 4, 2015
ADF drafts the Student Physical Privacy Act, a piece of model legislation that serves as the basis for trans bathroom bans across the country. Bills with language closely mirroring their legislation would later be introduced in several states, including Kansas, North Carolina, Nevada and Minnesota.
June 26, 2015
SCOTUS rules 5-4 in Obergefell v. Hodges that gay marriage is legal nationwide. ADF is not involved in the case but files an amicus brief with the Alabama Attorney General’s office in favor of upholding the ban. After the ruling, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jim Campbell issues a statement:
“The Supreme Court has stripped all Americans of our freedom to debate and decide marriage policy through the democratic process.”
2016
ADF pays Women’s Liberation Front, an SPLC-designated hate group masquerading as a feminist organization, $15,000 to fund their lawsuit against the Obama administration’s trans-inclusive Title IX reform. Its financial support would increase to $50,000 by 2021.
May 12, 2016
ADF provides legal defense for an art and calligraphy company in Brush & Nib Studio v. City of Phoenix. It argues that Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance infringes on the owners’ free speech and would force them to promote events, such as gay weddings, that conflict with their faith. In September 2019, Arizona’s Supreme Court rules in favor of the owners.
Sept. 7, 2016
ADF files a lawsuit on behalf of students and parents challenging a Minnesota school district’s policy that allows a transgender girl to use the girls’ locker room. The case is part of ADF’s broader attempt to establish that trans-inclusive school policies violate Title IX.
Sept. 20, 2016
ADF files a lawsuit on behalf of Lorie Smith, a Christian website designer who says Colorado laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination infringe on her right to free speech as an artist. Smith had never been asked to make a website for a gay wedding but was seeking a preenforcement lawsuit against the public-accommodations law. Much like Masterpiece Cakeshop, ADF exhausts all legal avenues and eventually works the case up to the Supreme Court.
Jan. 10, 2017
Michael Farris becomes ADF’s second president and CEO. Farris, a lawyer, founded the Home School Legal Defense Association and has a long history of advocating for expansive parental rights and conservative Christian influence in education. In 2003, he filed an amicus brief with ADF in favor of criminalizing gay sex. In 2020, he was involved in Trump’s attempt to block the results of the election.
June 4, 2018
SCOTUS rules 7-2 in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop, finding that the business can discriminate against gay couples. The ruling allows business owners to refuse providing services to gay couples if doing so goes against their faith.
Jan. 23, 2019
ADF files Schwartz v. City of New York on behalf of an Orthodox Jewish psychotherapist challenging New York City’s prohibition on conversion therapy. ADF characterizes the ordinance as a censorship of voluntary conversations between adults. Shortly after the New York City Council repeals the counseling prohibition, ADF drops the lawsuit.
June 18, 2019
ADF files a complaint with the Department of Education on behalf of four track and field student athletes in Connecticut who allege that the state’s sports policy, which allows transgender athletes to compete on teams that correspond to their gender identity, violates Title IX.
The case becomes the centerpiece of ADF’s national “Save Women’s Sports” campaign, which aims to remove trans girls and women from female sports. The case is ongoing and on trajectory to land before SCOTUS.
Aug. 23, 2019
ADF serves as lead counsel in Telescope Media Group v. Lucero. The case concerns two “Bible-believing Christians” who say their devotion to Christ is central to their video and film production company. The lawsuit is preemptive in nature as the company has not been asked to create any content that would violate the owners’ faith. The Eighth Circuit rules that the videographers’ work constitutes protected speech and that they can deny services to gay people.
March 30, 2020
Idaho passes the nation’s first ban on trans women and girls in sports. ADF helps draft the legislation. A 2021 investigation by USA Today would later find that legislators in 28 states introduced bills with language taken from Idaho’s bill or from model legislation by ADF. At the time, more than half the bills seeking to ban trans athletes included an element from ADF’s legislation.
June 15, 2020
ADF defends R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. EEOC before SCOTUS. It represents a funeral-home owner who fired an employee after she disclosed that she was transgender.
ADF argues that Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination “because of sex” does not encompass gender identity and that requiring the funeral-home owner to employ a trans woman who followed the women’s dress code would violate his religious beliefs. The case consolidates with Bostock v. Clayton County and in a 6-3 decision, the court finds that the firing violates Title VII.
Following the loss, ADF posts advice for churches and ministries moving forward, including a section titled “What can I do to better protect my church or ministry?”
April 14, 2022
ADF wins a $400,000 settlement for Nicholas Meriwether from Shawnee State University.
Meriwether was a professor who had received a warning from the school for refusing to respect a trans student’s pronouns.
Sept. 5, 2022
ADF files Chiles v. Salazar on behalf of a Colorado Christian counselor who wants to challenge a state law prohibiting licensed professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors. Kaley Chiles has not been disciplined under the law; rather, the case is a preenforcement challenge asserting that talk conversion therapy is protected speech.
Sept. 7, 2022
In New Hope Family Services v. Poole, ADF represents a faith-based adoption agency that had a policy that exclusively placed children with married mother-father couples. The court rules in their favor, allowing the adoption agency to continue their exclusionary practices. The next year, New York state agrees to pay them $250,000 in a settlement.
Oct. 1, 2022
Farris steps down as president and CEO, and Kristen Waggoner takes his place. Waggoner has worked with ADF since 2013, and the organization has won 19 cases under her leadership. Waggoner has advocated for conversion therapy to help “overcome same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria.”
June 30, 2023
SCOTUS rules 6–3 in favor of ADF’s client in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, holding that Colorado law cannot compel a designer to create wedding websites for same-sex couples because doing so would be against their faith.
Oct. 3, 2023
The Waukesha County Circuit Court in Wisconsin rules in favor of an ADF lawsuit aimed at forcing a local school district to out trans kids to their parents.
April 19, 2024
The Biden administration issues revised Title IX regulations stating that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. ADF joins Republican-led states and school systems to challenge the revised rule. It argues that the regulation threatens sex-separated facilities and sports and compels students and employees to affirm transgender identities. In January 2025, the regulations are struck down by a federal court, marking another ADF win.
Feb. 7, 2025
ADF and Missouri’s attorney general sue Kansas City and Jackson County on behalf of religious counselors challenging local conversion therapy bans.
June 18, 2025
SCOTUS rules 6-3 in United States v. Skrmetti that Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. ADF is not party to the lawsuit but submits an amicus brief supporting the ban.
June 27, 2025
In Mahmoud v. Taylor, SCOTUS rules 6–3 that parents challenging LGBTQ-inclusive elementary school books are entitled to excuse their children from lessons that include such materials. ADF files an amicus brief supporting the parents.
Sept. 3, 2025
ADF sues Massachusetts on behalf of two families who say state foster care rules require them to affirm children’s LGBTQ identities and support gender transition-related decisions that contradict their religious beliefs. Two months later, Massachusetts drops the foster care mandate and ADF drops its lawsuit.
March 31, 2026
In Chiles v. Salazar, SCOTUS rules 8-1 that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors cannot be applied to licensed talk therapists. This effectively legalizes conversion talk therapy for children. The decision threatens to overturn similar restrictions in more than 20 states and D.C.
June 30, 2026
SCOTUS rules 6-3 in ADF’s favor in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, two cases challenging the constitutionality of state bans on trans women and girls in sports. The court upholds bans in Idaho and West Virginia, which ADF had been litigating in support of since 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Additional reporting by Hope Pisoni.
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