The Family Research Council is a far-right evangelical activist and lobbying group claiming to promote family values. In fact, it lobbies against LGBTQ rights using homophobic and transphobic discredited research, falsely and harmfully conflates being gay with pedophilia, and spreads harmful inaccurate claims.<\/p>\n
In 2020 the FRC filed<\/a> an application to change its status to an \u201cassociation of churches,\u201d\u00a0despite describing itself as \u201cA nonprofit research and educational organization\u201d on its web site. According to ProPublica<\/a>, the FRC is \u201cno longer required to file a public tax return\u2026 [reveal] key staffer salaries, the names of board members and related organizations,\u201d or \u00a0\u201clarge payments to independent contractors and grants the organization has made. Unlike with other charities, IRS investigators can\u2019t initiate an audit on a church unless a high-level Treasury Department official has approved the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n FRC\u2019s anti-LGBTQ record:<\/p>\n \u2014Submitted an amicus brief<\/a> in the case United States v. Jonathan Skrmetti<\/em> at the United States Supreme Court arguing in favor of Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for transgender youth even when approved by medical providers and with parental permission.<\/p>\n \u2014Advocated<\/a> for President Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military and bragged of White House connections just prior to the ban.<\/p>\n \u2014Describes<\/a> the Equality Act, which would provide comprehensive protections from discrimination for LGBTQ people and expand protections for women, people of color and people of faith in various areas of public life as \u201cunequal, unfair, and unjust.\u201d FRC baselessly claims that the Equality Act would \u201cmassively overhaul our federal civil rights framework in order to mandate special privileges for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), expand abortion access, and gut religious liberty,\u201d and that it \u201cwould be a disaster for all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014Filed<\/a> an amicus brief to the Supreme Court against marriage equality in support of California\u2019s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, both since nullified.<\/p>\n \u2014Publishes brochures, videos, and other materials for parents and other school anti-trans activists, such as the 2016 \u201cParents Guide to the Transgender Movement in Education<\/a>,\u201d which misgenders trans people and encourages parents to oppose gender-affirming care backed by every major medical association as best practice, lifesaving care; supports so-called \u201cconversion therapy,\u201d and encourages children to ignore classmates\u2019 pronouns, despite research<\/a> showing that using accurate pronouns improves mental health. FRC state chapter affiliates follow the lead; the Minnesota Family Council, for example, offers to send parents a printed, bound \u201cParent Resource Guide…on the transgender trend<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014Defended the Parents Action League, a Minnesota group that lobbied the Anoka-Hennepin school district against implementing anti-bullying policies under the false belief that the policies target students with \u201chomosexual propaganda<\/a>\u201d and result in them being \u201cindoctrinated in homosexuality<\/a>.\u201d FRC says that bullying isn\u2019t the problem, anti-bullying policies are. The group\u2019s True Tolerance campaign contends that school strategies to address bullying are really just cover for \u201cactivists who want to promote homosexuality in kids\u201d to \u201ccapture the hearts and minds of our children at their earliest stages.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014Baselessly claimed<\/a>, in a document written by Robert Knight and Robert York titled \u201cHomosexual Behavior and Pedophilia,\u201d that \u201cone of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the \u2018prophets\u2019 of a new sexual order.\u201d The document also claimed that the \u201chomosexual rights movement has tried to distance itself from pedophilia, but only for public relations purposes.\u201d SPLC<\/a> notes that the booklet has since disappeared from FRC\u2019s website, but the organization has not withdrawn the claims it made. Former reality television star Josh Duggar, who directed FRC\u2019s lobbying arm FRC Action, was sentenced<\/a> to 12 years in prison in May 2022 after being convicted of child pornography possession that a Homeland Security investigator described as among the most abusive and horrific he had ever seen. Duggar was also charged<\/a> with child molestation for abusing five underage girls, including four of his sisters.<\/p>\n \u2014Promotes the \u201cex-gay\u201d movement<\/a> as a way to combat LGBTQ civil rights measures and refutes<\/a> the claims of victims of abusive, so-called \u201cconversion therapy.\u201d FRC claims<\/a> sexual orientation can be changed, but only from \u201cgay\u201d to \u201cstraight,\u201d and\u00a0claims<\/a> that there is no scientific proof that is \u201cmore harmful that other forms of therapy.\u201d So-called \u201cconversion therapy\u201d is a discredited practice and has been denounced by every major medical and psychological association in the U.S. As of February 2022,<\/a> at least 20 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and more than 100 municipalities have banned this harmful practice on anyone under 18 years of age. In December 2021, Canada and France also banned the discredited practice.<\/p>\n