A powerful global organisation accused of peddling anti-gay hate has thrown its support behind a South Australian woman who says her daughter was exposed to inappropriate sexual content at school.
ADF International is the global arm of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is based in the US. It describes itself as a global alliance focused on the sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, marriage, family and parental rights that “advances the God-given right to live and speak the truth”.
The ADF has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a label it rejects.
The SPLC has accused the ADF of supporting the criminalisation of gay sex, defending state-sanctioned sterilisation of transgender people, claiming LGBTQ+ people are more likely to engage in paedophilia, and saying that “a ‘homosexual agenda’ will destroy Christianity and society”.
“Since the election of President Trump, ADF has become one of the most influential groups informing the administration’s attack on LGBTQ rights,” it says.
An ADF International spokesperson said claims that it and its parent company, ADF, were anti-gay, anti-trans and anti-abortion were “tired accusations” that were “false and serve only to distract from the real issue at hand”.
“We advance a Christian view of marriage and sexuality and the right to life, rooted in the inherent dignity of every person,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the SPLC’s claims were “wrong and grossly mischaracterise our work”, and the organisation had never supported laws criminalising homosexuality and condemned the forced sterilisation of anyone.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
In a press release this week, ADF International said it was supporting Nicki Gaylard, who is considering legal action against the SA education department.
The advocacy director for ADF International, Robert Clarke, told Guardian Australia the case was “not about ideology”, but said in the press statement “radical approaches to sex education” were being “quietly rolled out” in schools.
Gaylard alleges that year 9 girls at Renmark high school, including her daughter, were exposed to inappropriate material referring to incest and bestiality during a presentation by Headspace Berri on inclusivity last year.
The department said what happened was an isolated incident that was unacceptable and that “steps have been taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again”.
Headspace Berri is operated by FocusOne Health, which had engaged an external presenter for the session.
Headspace National said it had reviewed the incident and found that “while the presentation was intended to promote LGBTIQA+ inclusivity and acceptance and acknowledge the historical and continuing discrimination this community faces, there were aspects of the presentation that were not appropriate for young people”.
“As a result headspace National has strengthened the guidance provided to lead agencies [ie operators] of headspace centres to ensure greater oversight and care in community awareness and engagement activities to ensure they are suitable and safe,” it said.
“This includes the selection of third-party presenters and the review of all third-party content presentations.”
Gaylard was quoted in the ADF press release as saying her daughter was “deeply affected” by the incident and her “childhood was shortened”.
Gaylard did not respond to requests for comment.
On its website, the ADF celebrates its role in the overturning of Roe v Wade, which has led to the drastic restriction of abortion access, patient deaths and hundreds of women being charged with pregnancy-related crimes in the US.
The former prime minister Tony Abbott has addressed the ADF twice, in 2016 and 2017.
Robert Simms, who was then a Greens senator and is now a South Australian MLC, told parliament after Abbott’s 2017 speech the ADF had advocated for the criminalisation of homosexuality and the abolition of protections for LGBTQ+ people, and that it peddled hate and demonised innocent people.
Macquarie University adjunct fellow Elenie Poulos, an expert on the intersection of religious and political discourses, said the ADF had a “huge” impact with a long history of lobbying on LGBTQ+ issues. She said while Australia had different legal systems, she had concerns about ADF International’s expansion.
“They have a very longstanding and aggressive approach to the rights of LGBTIQ people,” she said.
“They fight it in the courts in the US, they fight it politically, locally and in communities, and their aggressive anti-gay stance is extremely harmful.”
