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“Parental rights MUST be protected,” reads an advertisement the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) released over Facebook, asking for funds to support a lawsuit filed against a school district in Wisconsin. The school’s crime, one might ask. Allowing a child to change pronouns.
State legislatures across the country passed more anti-LGBTQ measures in 2021 than any previous year, according to groups protecting LGBTQ rights. Conservative nonprofits, like ADF, have aided discriminatory efforts by working in states on anti-LGBTQ legislation.
ADF, an Arizona-based conservative nonprofit, took its activism a step further by advertising a fundraiser over Facebook for the lawsuit against the Wisconsin school district. ADF claims “parents’ rights to direct the upbringing, education, mental health treatment of their children is one of the most basic constitutional rights every parent holds dear.”
A review of the Facebook advertisement data shows that more than 50 percent of the advertisement views were women over the age 55, so women who predominately would not have school-aged children. The advertisement was seen in states like Texas, California, Florida, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
To date, ADF has spent at least $700 on this advertisement, reaching thousands online, according to Facebook data. Recent public disclosures indicate ADF has an annual revenue of more than $60 million, and the group has spent more than $1.3 million on Facebook advertisements since May 2018, according to Facebook.
ADF’s attempts to raise money to protect “parental rights” could be seen as another attempt to “impede LGBTQ+ equality at any cost.” At the very least, one would imagine if parental rights were truly at risk, the advertisement would have targeted parents.
A screenshot of the advertisement data and the advertisement can be found below.
