At Alliance Defending Freedom’s Summit, Church and State Are One
Spencer Macnaughton | Uncloseted Media Weekly Newsletter
Earlier this month, hundreds of people filled a conference room in San Diego. These included Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Assistant Secretary of health Admiral Brian Christine, OpenAI executive Dean Ball and the attorneys general of West Virginia and Idaho.
They all came together for Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) 2026 Summit. The Christian legal group, also a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group, described the event as a “gathering of leaders from many different spheres, including law, public policy, media, business, education, and Christian leadership.”
Johnson—who has said that “homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and … society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle”—was a featured speaker.
In his speech, he seemed unconcerned with the separation of church and state: “It is so encouraging to Kelly and I to be among friends and fellow warriors for this cause and people who understand that God is not done with America yet. … ADF’s on the very tip of the spear, front line, defending those very truths and keeping the door open for the spread of the Gospel. This is our moment. I’m telling you, I believe the next season … is going to be the greatest season of this Ministry since its inception.”
That ministry is one that has espoused aggressively anti-LGBTQ views since its inception in the early 1990s. It was co-founded by a group of evangelical men, including Alan Sears, who co-authored a book called “The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today.” Since then, ADF has opposed gay marriage and supported bans on gay sex and on gender-affirming care for minors.
After helping overturn Roe v. Wade, ADF lawyers have led key victories at the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). In 303 Creative v. Elenis, SCOTUS ruled that a website designer could refuse service to gay weddings. And this year they convinced the Court to overturn Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy and to uphold state laws in West Virginia and Idaho that ban trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.
At the summit, ADF President Kristen Waggoner, who has promoted conversion therapists and consistently misgenders trans people, interviewed these states’ attorneys general. “The lawyers who were defending women’s sports were among the best I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Waggoner.
Similar to Johnson, Trump’s Assistant Secretary of Health Admiral Christine showed his commitment to governing based on conservative Christianity. He gave a Bible-thumping speech against gender transition and trans healthcare, saying that it “contradicts … the deeper moral order that is woven into creation itself. For Genesis 1:27 informs us that God created man in his own image. … Male and female” He also said the “complementary relationship between man and woman is divine” and advocated for youth with gender dysphoria to receive care from a pastor.
All of these remarks from politicians made me think of the interview I published earlier this week with Pete Hegseth’s pastor, Doug Wilson (you can watch it below). He wants a Christian theocracy in America and told me that: both the perpetrator and the victim should be disciplined in some cases of marital rape; that transgender people are “sad;” that execution is justifiable for certain homosexual acts; and that gay sex should be illegal.
The ADF Summit is glossy and polished. And while its messaging may be less explicit than Pastor Wilson’s, the track record of the organizations shows they have the exact same desires. They’re just deeply strategic in what they say and when and how they say it.
I believe the political power players who attended this year’s summit know this. They know they are endorsing an organization whose members have essentially called for the illegalization of most—if not all—forms of queer behavior and presentation.
In the last few years, these perspectives have become increasingly embedded in the highest rooms of the federal government and they have been effective in stripping away LGBTQ rights. Pastor Wilson, who just installed a full-time pastor in Washington, D.C. to lead services, says there are 10 to 20 government officials who align with his church’s ideology.
It is vital for Americans to keep their eyes wide open to the ultimate goal of groups like ADF: to create a United States that leaves LGBTQ people without rights and that pushes us back in the closet.
![‘Hand Jobs, Oral Sex and Anal’: Pete Hegseth's Pastor Wants Gay Men Prosecuted for These Acts [WATCH]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CZIB!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffac4ba66-e6ec-44f8-a996-7ce2eae61e91_1802x890.png)
Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died. (NBC)
The life and death of May Pollard, 16, provides a window into the tragic effect that legislation and political rhetoric have had on trans people in America.
2nd trans woman says “hungry fiend” Lindsey Graham paid her for sex (LGBTQ Nation)
“This transphobic, homophobic man can rot in hell,” she said.
Florida Republican lawmaker found liable for sexually harassing male staffers, faces resignation calls (The Advocate)
Florida Democrats are demanding that Rep. Fabian Basabe resign after a jury awarded $450,000 to two former staffers.
He shot & paralyzed his queer neighbor after weeks of harassment. Now he’s paying the price. (LGBTQ Nation)
“You will, indeed, have a long time to think about what you did,” the victim wrote.
Hunter Biden Says A Closeted Gay Mafia Runs Washington And He Calls It The Closetocracy (DNA Magazine)
Speaking on the I’ve Had It podcast on 18 July 2026, the former president’s son said the country’s biggest problem is not the oligarchy but what he calls the “closetocracy”, a closeted gay mafia that he claims is largely Republican and operates in Washington DC.
Over the next week, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting:
🆕 COMING SOON: In her first video interview from the Johnson County Jail in Texas, I speak with Autumn Hill, one of the defendants in the Prairieland case. Hill was accused of being part of an “Antifa cell” and sentenced to 50 years in prison for her involvement in an anti-ICE protest last year, where a police officer was shot while she was not in attendance. We talk about her arrest, the mistreatment she’s faced as a trans woman held in men’s facilities and her thoughts on a trial many have decried as unfair and extreme.
🆕 COMING SOON: Canada has all the tools to end the HIV epidemic. But in recent years, infections have risen by 15% in Canada, with men under 30 driving new transmissions. Kevin Hurren investigates why.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas!
Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief — spencer@unclosetedmedia.com
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