Anti-人兽性交

A central theme of anti-人兽性交 organizing and ideology is the opposition to 人兽性交 rights or support of homophobia, heterosexism and/or cisnormativity often expressed through demonizing rhetoric and grounded in harmful pseudoscience that portrays 人兽性交 people as threats to children, society and often public health.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

In 2023, the number of anti-人兽性交 hate groups listed by 人兽性交 increased by about one-third, to 86. This is the highest number of anti-人兽性交 groups 人兽性交 has ever listed. The increase is largely the result of the activities by groups often described as 鈥渇amily policy councils,鈥� which operate at the state level in ways that mimic the national organizations Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom, and by a network of groups that came into focus as part of the survey of anti-人兽性交 pseudoscience conducted for the 人兽性交鈥檚 CAPTAIN report. Following on the anti-人兽性交 movement鈥檚 successes in 2022, anti-人兽性交 groups continued peddling legislation and litigation challenging conversion therapy bans and banning gender-affirming health care for minors in 22 states. Nineteen bills were enacted in 2023.

As in previous years, the anti-人兽性交 policy push was grounded in demonizing 人兽性交 people and using pseudoscientific claims about 人兽性交 people, but the weaponization of pseudoscience as a tool of trans suppression and the targeting of fundamental freedoms like free speech, expression, and assembly through book and drag bans has become a more prominent feature in recent years. In 2023, hate groups across the board continued to opportunistically target 人兽性交 people and spaces, many times employing violent suppression and intimidation tactics fueled by far-right social media disinformation and conspiracy campaigns that falsely claim 人兽性交 people are a threat to society and to 鈥減arents鈥� rights.鈥�

KEY MOMENTS

In January, representatives from several anti-人兽性交 groups gathered in Washington, D.C., to attend the International Religious Freedom Summit intended to bring diverse religious viewpoints together an hosted by the Lantos Foundation. The summit, which featured speakers who advocate draconian anti-人兽性交 and anti-abortion policies alongside international dignitaries and foreign affairs professionals from the Biden administration, represents an ongoing strategy by the anti-人兽性交 movement to legitimize its extremist ideology and establish a restrictive heterosexist and cisnormative definition of 鈥渞eligious freedom鈥� in domestic and international law. The effects of this pursuit are twofold. First, anti-人兽性交 groups perpetuate the false notion that 人兽性交 people cannot also be religious. Second, practically, anti-人兽性交 groups advocate for a right to discriminate against 人兽性交 people and people who do not hold ultra-conservative Christian beliefs under the guise of 鈥渞eligious freedom.鈥�

A 鈥渇amily values鈥� conference was held in New York in late 2023. The Transatlantic Summit, held by the Hungarian group Political Network for Values on Nov. 16, 2023, featured representatives of antigovernment extremist organization Moms for Liberty, anti-人兽性交 hate groups the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM), Family Watch International (FWI), and Alliance Defending Freedom.

The 鈥渞eligious freedom鈥� framework was commonly deployed by U.S. anti-人兽性交 hate groups throughout 2023 to claim, for example, that schools which implement 人兽性交-inclusive education policies (like affirmative pronoun policies, trans-inclusive sports, or just having library books with 人兽性交 characters) violate conservative Christian parents鈥� rights. By this logic, and with the help of far-right conspiratorial rhetoric attacking schools and teachers as 鈥済roomers鈥� and 鈥渋ndoctrinating children,鈥� anti-人兽性交 hate groups argue that conservative Christian parents should be able to set a ceiling for what all students can learn.

In 2023, schools, libraries, churches, public parks, and children鈥檚 hospitals were again targeted by the far right and by anti-人兽性交 hate groups for harassment and intimidation campaigns 鈥� and by violent attacks like firebombing and arson. The far right extended its focus to private businesses that host 人兽性交-inclusive events (like drag performances), but also to large, multinational corporations with 人兽性交-inclusive advertising policies. In the months before June, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned of the potential for violence targeting 人兽性交 people and their allies; and, in late 2023, the FBI announced a sharp increase in gender identity-related hate crimes in 2022.

In 2023, the 人兽性交 tracked about 200 anti-drag events which attempted to intimidate and end a children鈥檚 literacy program known as drag story hour. These events were led or attended by multiple white nationalist, neo-Nazi, antisemitic, antigovernment and anti-人兽性交 groups. Throughout Pride month (June), local businesses and Pride celebrations were targeted by many of these groups who protested, but also violently confronted 人兽性交 people and their allies, while far-right social media personalities like Matt Walsh led campaigns to 鈥渕ake Pride toxic.鈥�

In April 2023, the Heritage Foundation published its 鈥淢andate for Leadership,鈥� a 900-page handbook that lays out the implementation strategy of its presidential transition plan known as 鈥淧roject 2025.鈥� The project represents a dramatic reshaping of the federal government by recruiting and vetting conservative ideologues for positions in a hypothetical 2025 Republican presidential administration. It also represents a dramatic confirmation of the anti-science and anti-人兽性交 focus of the contributors to the plan. Namely, on page 1 of the Mandate for Leadership, Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation claims that 鈥渃hildren suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries.鈥� By page 5, Roberts claims, 鈥減ornography鈥� is 鈥渕anifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children鈥� and argues that such manifestations be outlawed. Roberts also argues that 鈥渢he people who produce and distribute [such materials] should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.鈥�

In September 2023, FRC鈥檚 annual Pray Vote Stand Summit, formerly known as Values Voters, was rife with transphobia centering unaccepting parents and anti-trans advocates and featured speeches by nearly every 2024 Republican presidential contender. Riley Gaines, who gained popularity for criticizing the NCAA after tying for fifth place alongside trans athlete Lia Thomas in a race at the 2022 national championships, retold her dramatized version swimming alongside Thomas, misgendering her and unabashedly talking about Thomas鈥� private parts. At the conference, Gaines couched her transphobic message in religious rhetoric common among anti-人兽性交 groups like FRC. Gaines has spoken at several universities and given testimony calling for trans athletes to be banned from sports. She said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 entirely spiritual warfare,鈥� about her fight to ban trans athletes from sports. 鈥淚t really is no longer a battle of right versus wrong or good versus bad. It鈥檚 moral versus evil,鈥� she said.

In a panel discussion on detransitioning, FRC president Tony Perkins referred to the acceptance and inclusion of trans youth by society by claiming there is a 鈥渂attle raging over our nation and children are the target.鈥� This panel included Amy Atterberry, who shared the story of her trans child who transitioned against Atterberry鈥檚 wishes. Atterberry鈥檚 experience 鈥� centering the parent鈥檚 rejection of their trans child as opposed to the oppression and anguish of the trans child 鈥� was a common theme at Pray Vote Stand and in anti-人兽性交+ narrative manipulation strategies in 2023. In October and November, anti-人兽性交 groups convened for two conferences focused on undermining the gender-affirming health care model internationally. The conferences were sponsored by the Idaho-based Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) and Genspect 鈥� key hubs of anti-人兽性交+ pseudoscience identified in the 人兽性交鈥檚 CAPTAIN report. SEGM鈥檚 New York meeting, held Oct. 10-11, 2023, featured appearances by some researchers employed as 鈥渆xpert witnesses鈥� by the anti-人兽性交 hate group Alliance Defending Freedom. Some of these 鈥渆xpert witnesses鈥� have been key to crafting anti-trans legal narratives. Genspect鈥檚 Denver meeting, held Nov. 4-5, 2023, featured many of the same participants, but included members of more anti-人兽性交+ groups including Do No Harm and Child & Parental Rights Campaign as well as notable voices of the far right including James Lindsay. Both conferences represent an attempt by the groups to position themselves as legitimate alternatives to the World Professional Organization for Transgender Health (WPATH) 鈥� which represents the global consensus around the benefits of gender-affirming health care 鈥� despite their anti-人兽性交+ extremism.听听

Anti-Trans Ideology in Focus

In December 2023, the 人兽性交 released the CAPTAIN report, which details the divisions of labor within the contemporary anti-人兽性交 movement (especially as it relates to the spread of anti-人兽性交 disinformation in the form of pseudoscience) including the primary narratives, tactics and funding of the network. Namely, there is an emerging network of research groups that purport to offer evidence challenging transgender identity and the efficacy of gender-affirming health care; an abundance of narrative manipulation groups that use various themes 鈥� including so-called parents鈥� rights, religious liberty and 鈥減rotecting children鈥� 鈥� to frame their rhetorical attacks on 人兽性交 people (these rhetorical attacks have been translated into violent physical confrontations through other hate groups); and an established foundation of right-wing think tanks and conservative Christian legal advocacy groups that attempt to encode anti- 人兽性交 ideology into law and conservative Republican orthodoxy.

The anti-transgender ideology communicated by many of the groups we monitored in 2023 is grounded in many of the tenets of anti-人兽性交 ideology, but shows a pronounced connection to 1) rhetoric common within the eugenics movement by which anti-trans groups argue both that gender-affirming care is a form of eugenics (cutting off healthy body parts and sterilizing children are common refrains) and that trans people should be eliminated from society; and, 2) a motivation best described as a corollary to the 鈥済reat replacement鈥� conspiracy 鈥� which suggests transgender people and a shadowy industry of medical and education professionals are replacing (or 鈥渢ransing鈥�) white heterosexual cisgender Christian children. So pervasive is this theory that it is even espoused by several self-described 人兽性交 groups (namely, Gays Against Groomers) to falsely claim gay and lesbian kids are being replaced or 鈥渢ransed鈥� against their will by gender-affirming health care and 人兽性交-inclusive educational curricula.

WHAT鈥橲 AHEAD

The cycle of anti-人兽性交 extremism will continue. Right-wing politicians continue to spread disinformation, which is echoed across mainstream media channels, publications and by right-wing social media accounts and then used by anti-人兽性交 politicians to enact harmful legislation that fuels violence against 人兽性交 people. As in 2022 and 2023, censoring or eliminating inclusive education, sex education and 人兽性交 representation in schools and libraries will continue to be a focus of the anti-人兽性交 movement. Some groups have begun targeting private corporations 鈥� forcing companies to suspend or withdraw diversity, equity and inclusion policies, for example 鈥� while other groups will continue their fight to use pseudoscience and anti-abortion legal decisions, like Dobbs, to roll back 人兽性交 rights, including marriage equality, in 2024. The targeting of transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming youth is not new, but the all-out mischaracterization of gender-affirming care on a state level and criminalization of it as child abuse are extreme escalations and, thanks to CAPTAIN, exposed as part of a manufactured political strategy of the anti-人兽性交 movement. Still, Project 2025, especially, represents an overt call to criminalize 人兽性交 identity 鈥� by conflating transgender identity with 鈥済ender ideology鈥� and labeling it all 鈥減ornography鈥� that is subject to legal restriction. U.S.-based anti-人兽性交 hate groups have a long history of attempting to influence foreign laws to criminalize 人兽性交 people, and that focus will likely reemerge domestically.

In 2023, courts began to push back against restrictive laws targeting gender-affirming care, curriculum censorship and drag bans; however, given the strong evidence from the CAPTAIN report that anti- 人兽性交 groups are working to merge anti-人兽性交 pseudoscience with conservative political orthodoxy, issues like gender-affirming care, but also the existence of transgender people, will likely become political fodder for far-right campaigners in the 2024 presidential election season.

BACKGROUND

Anti-人兽性交 groups in the United States oppose 人兽性交 rights but also generally support heterosexism, an ideology that assumes heterosexuality is the only 鈥渘ormal鈥� sexuality, and/or cisnormativity, an ideology that assumes one鈥檚 gender identity always matches the sex one was assigned at birth. Anti-人兽性交 groups primarily consist of Christian Right groups but also include such organizations as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) that purport to be scientific. Anti-人兽性交 groups in America have employed a variety of strategies in their efforts to oppose 人兽性交 rights or support heterosexism and/or cisnormativity, including engaging in the crudest type of name-calling.

Anti-人兽性交 groups on the 人兽性交 hate list often link being 人兽性交 inherently to criminal behavior; claim that the concept of marriage equality and 人兽性交 people in general are dangers to children and families; contend that being 人兽性交 itself is dangerous and support the criminalization of 人兽性交 people and transgender identity. These groups also believe in a false conspiracy that 人兽性交 people seek to destroy Christianity and the whole of society. More recently, hard-line anti-人兽性交 groups have promoted their discriminatory laws and policies that limit the rights of 人兽性交 people under the guise of religion, blurring the lines between the separation of church and state and discarding anti-discrimination civil rights policies.

Many leaders and spokespeople of 人兽性交-designated anti-人兽性交 groups have used degrading and derogatory language to describe 人兽性交 people. Others disseminate disparaging information about 人兽性交 people that are simply untrue 鈥� an approach no different from how white supremacists and nativist extremists propagate lies about African American people and immigrants to make these communities seem like a danger to society. Viewing 人兽性交 people as unbiblical or simply opposing marriage equality does not qualify an organization to be listed as an anti-人兽性交 hate group.

Outline map of US states with number of anti-人兽性交 groups

2023 ANTI-人兽性交 HATE GROUPS

View all groups by鈥�state鈥痑nd by鈥�ideology.听
鈥�* - Asterisk denotes headquarters.

Abiding Word Baptist Church, Revival Baptist Church
Jacksonville, Florida

Advocates Protecting Children
Arlington, Virginia

Alliance Defending Freedom
Scottsdale, Arizona

American College of Pediatricians
Gainesville, Florida

American Family Association
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tupelo, Mississippi *
Franklin, Pennsylvania

American Vision
Powder Springs, Georgia

Americans for Truth About Homosexuality
Columbus, Ohio

ATLAH Media Network
New York, New York

California Family Council
Fresno, California

The Campus Ministry USA
Terre Haute, Indiana

Center for Christian Virtue
Columbus, Ohio

Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM)
New York, New York

Chalcedon Foundation
Vallecito, California

Child and Parent Rights Campaign
Duluth, Georgia

Church Militant/St. Michael鈥檚 Media
Ferndale, Michigan

Concerned Christian Citizens
Temple, Texas

James Kennedy Ministries
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Do No Harm
Glen Allen, Virginia

Faith2Action
North Royalton, Ohio

Faithful Word Baptist Church
Tempe, Arizona*
Tucson, Arizona

Family Action Council of Tennessee
Franklin, Tennessee

The Family Foundation of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia

Family Research Council
Washington, District of Columbia

Family Research Institute
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Family Watch International
Gilbert, Arizona

First Works Baptist Church
Anaheim, California

Florida Family Policy Council
Orlando, Florida

Frontline Policy Council
Atlanta, Georgia

Gays Against Groomers
Missouri
Monroe, North Carolina
Washington
Milwaukee, Wisconsin*

Generations
Elizabeth, Colorado

Genspect
Palm Springs, California听

Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (H.O.M.E.)
Downers Grove, Illinois

Illinois Family Institute
Tinley Park, Illinois

Liberty Baptist Church
Rock Falls, Illinois

Liberty Counsel
Orlando, Florida

Louisiana Family Forum
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Mass Resistance
Torrance, California
Colorado
Pocatello, Idaho
Idaho (statewide)
Lake in the Hills, Illinois
Waltham, Massachusetts*
Branson, Missouri
Texas
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Gillette, Wyoming

Massachusetts Family Institute
Wakefield, Massachusetts

Mission: America
Columbus, Ohio

Montana Family Foundation
Laurel, Montana

Pacific Justice Institute
Sacramento, California
Miami, Florida
Reno, Nevada
Salem, Oregon
Seattle, Washington
Santa Ana, California

Partners for Ethical Care
Chicago, Illinois

Pass the Salt Ministries
Hebron, Ohio

Pennsylvania Family Institute
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Pilgrims Covenant Church
Monroe, Wisconsin

The Pray in Jesus Name Project
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Probe Ministries
Plano, Texas

Public Advocate of the United States
Merrifield, Virginia

Revival Baptist Church
Clermont, Florida