{"html":"\t\n\t\u003C!-- Advertisement Script --\u003E\n\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\tvar key = [];\n\t\tvar values = [];\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tkey.push(\u0022tn_keyword\u0022);\n\t\t\t\tvalues.push(\u0022\u0027same-sex-m\u0027\u0022);\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tkey.push(\u0022tn_author\u0022);\n\t\t\t\tvalues.push(\u0022\u0027sarah-p\u0027\u0022);\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022postid-266151 scrolltrace textContainer_Truncate\u0022 articlelisttitle=\u0022The Christian Legal Army Behind \u2018Masterpiece Cakeshop\u2019\u0022 articlelistlinks=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/the-christian-legal-army-behind-masterpiece-cakeshop\/\u0022 article-post-id=\u0022266151\u0022 article-keyword=\u0022\u0027same-sex-m\u0027\u0022 article-subject=\u0022\u0027gender-and\u0027, \u0027government\u0027, \u0027law\u0027, \u0027lgbtq-acti\u0027, \u0027politics\u0027, \u0027religion\u0027, \u0027republican\u0027, \u0027supreme-co\u0027, \u0027the-right\u0027\u0022 article-authors=\u0022\u0027sarah-p\u0027\u0022\u003E\n\t\n\t\t\u003Carticle id=\u0022url-title\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022tn_pixel_266151_1\u0022 style=\u0027height:0px; width:0px;\u0027\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022tn_pixel_266151_2\u0022 style=\u0027height:0px; width:0px;\u0027\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003Cheader class=\u0022article-header\u0022\u003E\t\n\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022article-header-content\u0022\u003E\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cul class=\u0022article-info\u0022\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022category\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/supreme-court\/\u0022 class=\u0022anchor_subject\u0022 subjectlink=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/supreme-court\/\u0022\u003ESupreme Court\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022category\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/conservatives-and-the-american-right\/\u0022 class=\u0022anchor_subject\u0022 subjectlink=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/conservatives-and-the-american-right\/\u0022\u003EThe Right\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022subcategory\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/keyword\/same-sex-marriage\/\u0022\u003ESame-sex marriage\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Ch1 class=\u0022article_title hide\u0022\u003EThe Christian Legal Army Behind \u2018Masterpiece Cakeshop\u2019\u003C\/h1\u003E\u003Ch1 class=\u0022title\u0022\u003EThe Christian Legal Army Behind \u2018Masterpiece Cakeshop\u2019\u003C\/h1\u003E\u003Ch2 class=\u0027subtitle\u0027\u003EA special investigation into the rise of Alliance Defending Freedom.\u003C\/h2\u003E\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022byline\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ch2 class=\u0022author_name\u0022\u003EBy \u003Ca class=\u0022author\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/sarah-posner\/\u0022\u003ESarah Posner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022author-twitter\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/@sarahposner\u0022 target=\u0022blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch4 class=\u0022time is-today article_pub_time\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\tToday 6:00 am\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/h4\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\u003C!--\u003Cul class=\u0022article-share\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share fb\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFacebook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share tw\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share email\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEmail\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share tn_print\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 onclick=\u0022tn_print_fn()\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPrint\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/ul\u003E--\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cul class=\u0022article-share\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share fb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Efb\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share tw\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Etw\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share mail email\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Email\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share tn_print\u0022 onclick=\u0022tn_print_fn()\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPrint\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share msg\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Emsg\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share wa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ewa\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 class=\u0022social-share sms\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Esms\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/header\u003E\n\n\u003Csection class=\u0022article-body  abody-266151 keep-reading\u0022\u003E\n\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022article-body-inner\u0022\u003E\n\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left full-width-mobile image wide indent\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca class=\u0022gallery imgHover\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Jack-Phillips-Cakeshop-ADF-ap-img.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, is at the center of a case that will be considered by the Supreme Court on December 5. (AP Photo \/ David Zalubowski)\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Jack-Phillips-Cakeshop-ADF-ap-img.jpg?scale=896&compress=80\u0022 alt=\u0022Jack-Phillips-Cakeshop-ADF-ap-img\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003EJack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, is at the center of a case that will be considered by the Supreme Court on December 5. \u003Cspan class=\u0022credits\u0022\u003E(AP Photo \/ David Zalubowski)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv style=\u0022clear:both\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cp\u003EOn a sunny morning in September, Representative Vicky Hartzler, a Missouri Republican, held a press conference with four of her congressional colleagues to announce their support for Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker. The conservative Christian and \u201ccake artist\u201d had been found in violation of Colorado\u2019s anti-discrimination law when he refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Phillips is now the plaintiff in one of the most closely watched cases on the Supreme Court\u2019s docket this term, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/docket\/docketfiles\/html\/public\/16-111.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E1\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Caside class=\u0022ad right most-popular-plus-ad grey_back\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022ad-halfpage-266151-0\u0022 class=\u0022sailthru_class_form\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/advertising-policy\u0022 class=\u0022ad-policy\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAd Policy\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tfunction load_article_ads(){\n\t\t\t\tif( jQuery(\u0022#ad-halfpage-266151-0\u0022).is(\u0022:empty\u0022) ){call_ad_new(\u0027halfpage\u0027,\u0027tn_article\u0027,\u0027ad-halfpage-266151-0\u0027,\u0027rectangle_1\u0027,{\u0022tn_author\u0022:\u0022\u0027sarah-p\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_articleid\u0022:266151,\u0022tn_ptype\u0022:\u0022article\u0022,\u0022tn_keyword\u0022:\u0022\u0027same-sex-m\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_subject\u0022:\u0022\u0027gender-and\u0027, \u0027government\u0027, \u0027law\u0027, \u0027lgbtq-acti\u0027, \u0027politics\u0027, \u0027religion\u0027, \u0027republican\u0027, \u0027supreme-co\u0027, \u0027the-right\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_slp\u0022:\u0022\u0022});}\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t}\t\n\t\n\t\t\tjQuery(\u0027#expand-reduce-266151\u0027).click(function(){\n\t\t\t\tif( isMobile.any() ){\n\t\t\t\t\tcall_ad_new(\u0027halfpage\u0027,\u0027tn_article\u0027,\u0027ad-halfpage-266151-0\u0027,\u0027rectangle_1\u0027,{\u0022tn_author\u0022:\u0022\u0027sarah-p\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_articleid\u0022:266151,\u0022tn_ptype\u0022:\u0022article\u0022,\u0022tn_keyword\u0022:\u0022\u0027same-sex-m\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_subject\u0022:\u0022\u0027gender-and\u0027, \u0027government\u0027, \u0027law\u0027, \u0027lgbtq-acti\u0027, \u0027politics\u0027, \u0027religion\u0027, \u0027republican\u0027, \u0027supreme-co\u0027, \u0027the-right\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_slp\u0022:\u0022\u0022});\t\n\t\t\t\t}\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t});\t\n\t\t\u003C\/script\u003E \n\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left textaside\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022message\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EThis article was reported in partnership with \u003Ca target=\u0022_blank\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theinvestigativefund.org\/\u0022\u003Ethe Investigative Fund\u003C\/a\u003E at the Nation Institute. Additional research by Eli Clifton, Queen Arsem-O\u2019Malley, Evan Malmgren, and Jake Bittle.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHartzler had just spent a good part of her summer \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/hartzler-transgender-military-threat-e6c2bb61475f\/\u0022\u003Epressing\u003C\/a\u003E for a ban on transgender people in the military because she believes they constitute a \u201cdomestic threat.\u201d She was one of 86 Republican lawmakers who had just signed onto an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/content\/dam\/aba\/publications\/supreme_court_preview\/briefs-2017-2018\/16-111-amicus-pet-us-senators-and-representatives.authcheckdam.pdf\u0022\u003Eamicus brief\u003C\/a\u003E supporting Phillips\u2019s novel claim that baking and decorating a wedding cake is constitutionally protected artistic expression. Phillips has also argued that he should not be required to deploy his creative talents on behalf of a same-sex couple, because doing so would violate his religious beliefs.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E2\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA government that tells you what you must say and what you must do, and punishes you if you don\u2019t, is frightening,\u201d Hartzler said. \u201cThat kind of state power should scare all of us.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E3\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENearby, Phillips stood quietly with his attorney, Kristen Waggoner of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which has mushroomed over the past few years into a Christian-right powerhouse. Founded 24 years ago because, as its longtime president Alan Sears once put it, \u201cthe homosexual agenda threatens religious freedom,\u201d ADF \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.adflegal.org\/detailspages\/blog-details\/allianceedge\/2017\/02\/01\/alliance-defending-freedom-shows-strong-at-the-u.s.-supreme-court\u0022\u003Enow rivals\u003C\/a\u003E some of the nation\u2019s top private law firms in Supreme Court activity. It has trained thousands of lawyers, many of whom have gone on to government service at the federal, state, and local levels. The organization has helped shape \u201creligious freedom\u201d legislation; provides grants to other Christian-right organizations; and presses school districts to adopt its model policies on issues like transgender facility access. ADF now exerts far more influence than other legal organizations that litigate religious-freedom cases, such as the American Center for Law and Justice, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and Liberty Counsel. As the courts have ruled in favor of marriage equality over the past decade, ADF has positioned itself at the very center of the efforts to curtail LGBTQ rights under the guise of religious freedom.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E4\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe preparation of the congressional amicus brief was led by Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and former GOP presidential contender; Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican once rumored to be under consideration by Donald Trump for a Supreme Court seat; and Representative Mike Johnson, a freshman Republican from Louisiana and a rising conservative star. Johnson is one of dozens of former ADF attorneys around the country who were trained in the organization\u2019s \u201cChrist-centered\u201d legal principles and now serve in government or the judiciary. As an ADF staff attorney, he led many of its legal fights against marriage equality.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E5\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Caside class=\u0022right hidden-on-mobile most-popular-plus-ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022most-popular hover_b_remove\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch3\u003EMost Popular\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E1\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/what-if-this-had-happened-on-the-day-after-911\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027What if This Had Happened on the Day After 9\/11?\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003EWhat if This Had Happened on the Day After 9\/11?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E2\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/the-christian-legal-army-behind-masterpiece-cakeshop\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027The Christian Legal Army Behind \u2018Masterpiece Cakeshop\u2019\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003EThe Christian Legal Army Behind \u2018Masterpiece Cakeshop\u2019\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E3\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/saudi-arabias-rivalry-with-iran-is-further-destabilizing-the-middle-east\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Saudi Arabia\u2019s Rivalry With Iran Is Further Destabilizing the Middle East\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003ESaudi Arabia\u2019s Rivalry With Iran Is Further Destabilizing the Middle East\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E4\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/russia-is-not-the-no-1-threat-or-even-among-the-top-5\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Russia Is Not the \u2018No. 1 Threat\u2019\u2014or Even Among the Top 5\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003ERussia Is Not the \u2018No. 1 Threat\u2019\u2014or Even Among the Top 5\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E5\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/spains-conflict-over-catalonia-is-covering-up-massive-political-corruption\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Spain\u2019s Conflict Over Catalonia Is Covering Up Massive Political Corruption\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003ESpain\u2019s Conflict Over Catalonia Is Covering Up Massive Political Corruption\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/aside\u003E\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022pull-quote-module\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022pull-quote-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EIn just one year, Trump has nominated at least four federal judges who have ties to ADF.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E  \n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\n\u003Cp\u003EThe involvement of Cruz, Lee, Johnson, and other congressional leaders is just one mark of ADF\u2019s remarkable ascent. The organization, which once aspired to be merely a Christian antidote to the secular ACLU, has fast become a training ground for future legislators, judges, prosecutors, attorneys general, and other government lawyers\u2014including, notably, in the Trump administration. Noel Francisco, Trump\u2019s solicitor general, is an ADF-allied attorney, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/jeff-sessions-consulted-christian-legal-group-religious-freedom\/story?id=50336322\u0022\u003Econsulted\u003C\/a\u003E with ADF when drafting Department of Justice guidance on religious-freedom issues. At the state level, at least 18 ADF-affiliated lawyers now work in 10 attorney-general offices; all of them were appointed or elected in the past five years. And in just one year, Trump has nominated at least four federal judges who have ties to ADF\u2014Amy Coney Barrett, recently confirmed to the Seventh Circuit; Kyle Duncan, nominated to the Fifth Circuit; and Jeff Mateer and Michael Joseph Juneau, both nominated to district courts.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E6\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the press conference, Johnson enthused about the potential impact of Phillips\u2019s case, calling it \u201cseismic.\u201d Before quickly departing for a vote on the House floor, he explained that he and his colleagues were only seeking \u201ca very careful balance\u201d in the wake of \u003Cem\u003EObergefell v. Hodges\u003C\/em\u003E, the Supreme Court\u2019s landmark 2015 decision enshrining marriage equality. \u201cWe have to figure out how everyone can coexist,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAn essential component of that is allowing everyone to live out their deepest convictions.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E7\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left indent indents current-issue\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ch4\u003ECurrent Issue\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022current-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/issue\/december-4-11-2017-issue\/\u0022 class=\u0022no-target-blank\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/cover1204.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022\u0022\/\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022current-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/issue\/december-4-11-2017-issue\/\u0022 class=\u0022textred-highlighted\u0022\u003EView our current issue\u003C\/a\u003E\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022magazine_text\u0022 id=\u0022magazine_text_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022cta magazine_button\u0022 id=\u0022magazine_button_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tvar magazine_text_266151            = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar magazine_button_text_266151     = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar magazine_button_url_266151      = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar magazine_button_bg_color_266151 = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tvar is_user_logged_in = getCookie(\u0027SESSname\u0027);\t\t\t\tif( is_user_logged_in != null ){\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan id=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022socialHighlighted\\\\\\\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan id=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022tweetButton\\\\\\\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022 class=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022socialButtonHighlight\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022clickheresocial\\\\\\\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E \u003Cspan id=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022emailButton\\\\\\\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022 class=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022socialButtonHighlight\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\\\\\\\u0022clickheresocial\\\\\\\\\u0022\\\\\u0022\\\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003EIf you like this article, please give today to help fund \u003Cem\u003EThe Nation\u003C\/em\u003E\u2019s work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0027;\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_button_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cinput type=\u0022button\u0022 class=\u0022btn btn_ffcf0d\u0022 name=\u0022submit_sailthru\u0022 value=\u0022Donate\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0027;\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_button_url_266151 = \u0027https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/email-signup-module-donate\/\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_button_bg_color_266151 = \u0027#ffcf0d\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t}else{\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Cp\u003ESubscribe today and Save up to $129.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0027;\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_button_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cinput type=\u0022button\u0022 class=\u0022btn btn_d41d00\u0022 name=\u0022submit_sailthru\u0022 value=\u0022Subscribe\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0027;\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_button_url_266151 = \u0027https:\/\/ssl.palmcoastd.com\/06601\/apps\/NEW_US?ikey=I**GAB\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmagazine_button_bg_color_266151 = \u0027#dd3333\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( magazine_text_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#magazine_text_266151\u0022).html(magazine_text_266151);\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( magazine_button_text_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#magazine_button_266151\u0022).html(magazine_button_text_266151);\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( magazine_button_url_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#magazine_button_266151 a\u0022).attr(\u0022href\u0022,magazine_button_url_266151);\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( magazine_button_bg_color_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#magazine_button_266151 a input\u0022).css(\u0022background\u0022,magazine_button_bg_color_266151);\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the core of \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003ECakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E is a radically revisionist idea: that laws protecting the civil rights of historically marginalized groups can violate the free-speech rights of the people who refuse to serve them. Although ADF has also charged that the Colorado law violates Phillips\u2019s right to the free exercise of religion, a shadow looms over that claim, cast by the Supreme Court\u2019s 1968 decision in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/390\/400\/case.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENewman v. Piggie Park\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. There, the owner of a South Carolina barbecue chain claimed that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 \u201ccontravene[d] the will of God\u201d and infringed on his right to the free exercise of religion, because his beliefs \u201ccompel him to oppose any integration of the races.\u201d The Supreme Court rejected these claims as \u201cpatently frivolous.\u201d Notably, ADF has put its free-speech claim, rather than the free-exercise-of-religion claim, front and center in its brief, casting Phillips as an artist whose freedom of expression has been violated.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E8\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn ADF victory on either claim in \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003ECakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E, which will be argued before the Supreme Court on December 5, could not only create new precedent but also erode advances in LGBTQ rights, ushering in enduring consequences for LGBTQ people and other protected classes. \u201cWe know the possible hurtful effects from the endless examples of how same-sex couples and LGBT individuals have been refused service or turned away in the cases that we\u2019ve litigated,\u201d said Jenny Pizer, law and policy director at Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ-rights organization.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E9\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPizer said that discrimination occurs in a multitude of public accommodations, including medical, legal, lodging, retail, even access to schools. In its \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003ECakeshop \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/16-111_bsac-lambda-legal-et-al.pdf\u0022\u003Eamicus brief\u003C\/a\u003E, Lambda documented more than 1,000 incidents of LGBTQ people being refused service. According to the brief, these incidents expose \u201can ugly truth: with disturbing frequency, LGBT people are confronted by \u2018we don\u2019t serve your kind\u2019 refusals and other unequal treatment in a wide range of public accommodations contexts.\u201d Those refusals, Lambda argued, \u201cwrongfully diminish lives that should have equal dignity under our laws and in our public spheres.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E10\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf the Supreme Court were to accept ADF\u2019s religious-infringement claim, Pizer said, \u201cthe vulnerability to arbitrary rejection\u201d experienced by LGBTQ people would be present at \u201cany moment during the day when we go through our daily lives\u2014we work, we have to buy food, we have to live somewhere, we have to be able to access medical care, we have to be able to ride transportation services.\u201d And if the Court were to accept ADF\u2019s free-speech claim, Pizer continued, any vendor could simply claim that his or her work is \u201cpart of my living my faith, and my faith says I must not make this for you because if I make this for you, I am accepting you, and there\u2019s something about you to which I object on religious grounds.\u201d A ruling supporting either argument would leave \u201csuch an enormous hole in the civil-rights laws, there\u2019s really nothing left.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E11\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\u003Caside id=\u0022inline_cta_1_module_266151\u0022 class=\u0022inline-cta-1\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022inline-cta-blocks\u0022 id=\u0022inline_cta_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022cta\u0022 id=\u0022inline_cta_btn_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_text_266151            = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_button_text_266151     = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_url_266151             = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_bg_color_266151        = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_font_color_266151      = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar cta_1_check_266151  = false; 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The organization was founded in 1993 by a group of Christian-right heavyweights, including Sears, James Dobson, and evangelist D. James Kennedy, in the midst of a conservative panic over a gay-rights movement that was just beginning to score some legal victories. Colorado, home to Dobson\u2019s Focus on the Family and its sprawling campus, was ground zero for the backlash. Voters there had just passed Amendment 2, a ballot referendum that amended the state constitution to block state or local officials from recognizing gay men, lesbians, or bisexuals as a protected class. Such protections\u2014known in conservative circles as \u201cSOGI laws,\u201d short for \u201csexual orientation and gender identity\u201d\u2014remain a prime ADF target. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hrc.org\/state-maps\/public-accomodations\u0022\u003Ehave passed laws\u003C\/a\u003E protecting LGBTQ people in public accommodations; two more states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The statute that Phillips was found to have violated when he refused to serve a same-sex couple at his business was one such law.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E13\u003C\/span\u003E\t\u003Caside class=\u0022ad-300\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ad full-width-mobile inline_ad_300x250_266151\u0022 id=\u0022inline_ad_300x250_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\n\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\/*\n\t\t * Article Inline Ads Calling\n\t\t *\/\n\t\tfunction inline_ad( articlePostId ){\n\t\t\tif( jQuery(\u0027#inline_ad_300x250_\u0027+articlePostId+\u0027\u0027).is(\u0027:empty\u0027) ){\n\t\t\t\tvar targetingArray              = new Array();\n\t\t\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_author\u0027]     = [\u0027sarah-p\u0027];\n\t\t\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_articleid\u0027]  = [266151];\n\t\t\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_ptype\u0027]      = [\u0027article\u0027];\n\t\t\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_keyword\u0027]    = [\u0027same-sex-m\u0027];\n\t\t\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_subject\u0027]    = [\u0027gender-and\u0027, \u0027government\u0027, \u0027law\u0027, \u0027lgbtq-acti\u0027, \u0027politics\u0027, \u0027religion\u0027, \u0027republican\u0027, \u0027supreme-co\u0027, \u0027the-right\u0027];\n\t\t\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_slp\u0027]        = []; \n\t\t\t\tcall_ad_new(\u0027halfpage250\u0027,\u0027tn_article\u0027,\u0027inline_ad_300x250_\u0027+articlePostId+\u0027\u0027,\u0027rectangle_4\u0027,targetingArray);\t\t\n\t\t\t}\t\t\t\n\t\t} \t\t\n\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter Colorado voters approved Amendment 2 in November 1992, gay-rights activists mobilized to protest the law and challenge it in court, ultimately prevailing in 1996 in \u003Cem\u003ERomer v. Evans\u003C\/em\u003E, in which the Supreme Court ruled that Amendment 2 violated the US Constitution\u2019s equal-protection clause.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E14\u003C\/span\u003E\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left indent indents related-oneup\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\u003Ch4\u003ERelated Article\u003C\/h4\u003E\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022oneup-blocks\u0022\u003E  \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022oneup-block-img\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Trump_Pence_2016_ap_img.jpg?scale=228&compress=80\u0022 alt=\u0022The Nation\u0022\/\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/the-religious-right-helped-put-trump-in-office-now-he-owes-them-big\/\u0022 class=\u0022related-oneup-click\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003EThe Religious Right Helped Put Trump in Office\u2014Now He Owes Them Big\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/katha-pollitt\/\u0022\u003EKatha Pollitt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\n \n \n \n\u003Cp\u003EFor Sears, Dobson, and ADF\u2019s other co-founders, these battles represented an existential threat to conservative Christians. The campaign marshaled to oppose Amendment 2, Sears wrote in his 2003 book, \u003Cem\u003EThe Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today\u003C\/em\u003E, was proof that \u201cradical homosexual activists and their allies are looking for any opportunity to attack and silence any church that takes a biblical stand with regard to homosexual behavior.\u201d The persecution that churches faced due to the \u201cwrath of angry homosexual activists,\u201d Sears argued, \u201cis a snapshot of what will happen to the church in America.\u201d Sears\u2019s book, along with his 2005 \u003Cem\u003EThe ACLU vs. America\u003C\/em\u003E, has long been on the reading list for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, ADF\u2019s summer program for law students.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E15\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the past 24 years, ADF has experienced remarkable growth, today receiving contributions of more than $50 million a year\u2014up from $14 million in 2002\u2014and boasting 58 staff attorneys based in its headquarters in Arizona and in offices in Washington, DC, and elsewhere. It also has an international presence, including opposing LGBTQ equality in courts in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/detailspages\/press-release-details\/redefining-marriage-eu-court-to-rule-on-national-marriage-laws\u0022\u003EEuropean Union\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.adfmedia.org\/News\/PRDetail\/2680\u0022\u003Eadvising\u003C\/a\u003E anti-LGBTQ parliamentarians in Romania.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E16\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EADF\u2019s funding comes from individual donations, which by law are kept secret, as well as from charitable foundations, which by law must be disclosed on the donors\u2019 tax returns. But much of ADF\u2019s foundation funding\u2014$77.6 million between 2008 and 2015, more than a quarter of the organization\u2019s total donations during this period\u2014comes through the National Christian Charitable Foundation, a conservative donor-advised fund that allows contributors to shield their identities from public view.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E17\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022pull-quote-module\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022pull-quote-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EADF\u0027s ranks include more than 3,000 allied attorneys who litigate ADF cases pro bono, as well as 1,800 graduates of the Blackstone Legal Fellowship.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E  \n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the most prominent of ADF\u2019s known donors is the family of Betsy DeVos, Trump\u2019s secretary of education. The Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, which in its tax filings lists DeVos as vice president, has donated more than $1 million to ADF since 2002. When questioned at her confirmation hearings about the foundation, DeVos denied having any role in determining its grants,\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/devos-education-nominees-code-words-for-creationism-offshoot-raise-concerns\u0022\u003E calling\u003C\/a\u003E the listing of her name as an officer a \u201cclerical error.\u201d Another ADF donor is the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2017\/11\/15\/21278\/how-slamming-campaign-finance-laws-helped-greg-gianforte-get-elected\u0022\u003Efamily foundation\u003C\/a\u003E of Representative Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who was elected despite having assaulted a reporter on the eve of the vote.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E18\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith this swelling war chest, ADF has been able to assemble what its founder Sears has called a \u201clegal army.\u201d Its ranks include more than 3,000 allied attorneys who litigate ADF cases pro bono, as well as 1,800 graduates of the Blackstone Legal Fellowship. Through these networks, ADF has exerted its influence throughout the conservative legal world, across law firms, state and federal governments, and the judiciary.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E19\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo become an \u201callied attorney,\u201d one must agree with ADF\u2019s 11-point\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.adflegal.org\/about-us\/careers\/statement-of-faith\u0022\u003E statement of faith\u003C\/a\u003E, which includes a commitment to believing in the divinity of Jesus Christ, that God designed marriage for one man and one woman, and that homosexual behavior is \u201csinful and offensive to God.\u201d ADF\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.adflegal.org\/about-us\/allies\u0022\u003E states\u003C\/a\u003E that its allied attorneys have so far donated more than 1 million hours of pro bono work, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Trenton Garmon, the attorney representing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, is among the allied attorneys who have been inducted into ADF\u2019s \u201cHonor Corps\u201d for donating more than 450 pro bono hours to the organization.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E20\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\n\t\t\u003Caside id=\u0022inline_cta_2_module_266151\u0022 class=\u0022inline-cta-2\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022inline-cta-blocks\u0022 id=\u0022inline_cta_2_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022cta\u0022 id=\u0022inline_cta_2_btn_266151\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_2_text_266151            = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_2_button_text_266151     = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_2_url_266151             = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_2_bg_color_266151        = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar inline_cta_2_font_color_266151      = \u0027\u0027;\n\t\t\tvar cta_2_check_266151  = false;  \n\t\t\tvar is_user_logged_in = getCookie(\u0027SESSname\u0027);\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tif( is_user_logged_in != null ){\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGive a gift subscription today!\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKnow someone who would like \u003Cem\u003EThe Nation\u003C\/em\u003E?\u003C\/p\u003E\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_font_color_266151 = \u0027#ffffff\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_button_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cinput type=\u0022button\u0022 class=\u0022btn\u0022 name=\u0022submit_sailthru\u0022 value=\u0022GIVE A GIFT\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_url_266151 = \u0027https:\/\/ssl.palmcoastd.com\/06601\/apps\/GFTOPTION1LANDING?ikey=I**GF2\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_bg_color_266151 = \u0027#cc0e0e\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t}else{\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to \u003Cem\u003EThe Nation\u003C\/em\u003E\u00a0 for $2 a month.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGet unlimited digital access to the best independent news and analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_font_color_266151 = \u0027#ffffff\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_button_text_266151 = \u0027\u003Ca href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cinput type=\u0022button\u0022 class=\u0022btn btn_ffcf0d\u0022 name=\u0022submit_sailthru\u0022 value=\u0022Subscribe\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_url_266151 = \u0027https:\/\/tna.pcdfusion.com\/pcd\/Order?iKey=I**GAC\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tinline_cta_2_bg_color_266151 = \u0027#cc0e0e\u0027;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( inline_cta_2_text_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#inline_cta_2_266151\u0022).html(inline_cta_2_text_266151);\n\t\t\t\tcta_2_check_266151 = true;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( inline_cta_2_button_text_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#inline_cta_2_btn_266151\u0022).html(inline_cta_2_button_text_266151);\n\t\t\t\tcta_2_check_266151 = true;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( inline_cta_2_url_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#inline_cta_2_btn_266151 a\u0022).attr(\u0022href\u0022,inline_cta_2_url_266151);\n\t\t\t\tcta_2_check_266151 = true;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( inline_cta_2_bg_color_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#inline_cta_2_btn_266151 a input\u0022).css(\u0022background\u0022,inline_cta_2_bg_color_266151);\n\t\t\t\tcta_2_check_266151 = true;\n\t\t\t}\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( inline_cta_2_font_color_266151 !=\u0027\u0027 ){\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#inline_cta_2_btn_266151 a input\u0022).css(\u0022color\u0022,inline_cta_2_font_color_266151);\n\t\t\t\tcta_2_check_266151 = true;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif( cta_2_check_266151 ){\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\u0022#inline_cta_2_module_266151\u0022).addClass(\u0022inline-cta-module\u0022);\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Blackstone Legal Fellowship trains law students on how to apply ADF\u2019s principles to the public realm, offering \u201cthe highest level training in Christian worldview and constitutional law to help break the stranglehold the ACLU and its allies have on our nation\u2019s law schools and judicial system.\u201d Fellows become integrated into the conservative legal ecosystem through seminars and talks from senior staffers from Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, and other influential conservative organizations. They have also been addressed by two attorneys Trump has since nominated to federal judgeships: Amy Coney Barrett, of the Seventh Circuit, and Kyle Duncan, an ADF-allied attorney who has also received grant money from the organization, awaiting confirmation to the Fifth Circuit. (Citing his pending hearing, Duncan declined to comment for this article, referring all questions to the Department of Justice, which did not respond to an interview request.) Blackstone Fellows are also placed in internships with prestigious law firms and think tanks.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E21\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough they have since been removed from ADF\u2019s website,\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140311120021\/http:\/\/www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org\/Internships\/Testimonies\u0022\u003E testimonials from Blackstone Fellows available as recently as 2014\u003C\/a\u003E hint at an ideology firmly opposed to secular government and law. One fellow praised the program for its focus on hewing to the \u201corthodoxy of our Christendom in order to win back the rule of law.\u201d Another said it \u201cunveiled the scale of the attack against truth, and through awesome presenters, also gave the battle plan and weapons necessary to fight back.\u201d One fellow spoke of being encouraged that \u201cChrist\u2019s Truth will never fail or be defeated. It is these attitudes and practices that I will use in recovering the rule of law in America.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E22\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left full-width-mobile image wide indent\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca class=\u0022gallery\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ADF5-img.gif\u0022 title=\u0022&nbsp\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ADF5-img.gif\u0022 alt=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv style=\u0022clear:both\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EAs ADF has built up its cadre of conservative Christian attorneys, it has also sought to shield them from the profession\u2019s own prohibitions against bias. ADF campaigned against the implementation of a model antidiscrimination rule, added last year by the American Bar Association to prohibit discrimination based on, among other things, sexual orientation and gender identity, claiming that it would \u201ccensor\u201d attorneys\u2019 speech. This year, ADF provided a\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/us6.campaign-archive.com\/?u=9c168acc195bf3c02f36cdea7&id=141d63a311\u0022\u003E grant\u003C\/a\u003E to the Foundation for Moral Law, the conservative legal-advocacy nonprofit founded by Moore, to study the issue and produce a report.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E23\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Ch6\u003EReligious Freedom\u2014for Christians Only\u003C\/h6\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis burgeoning \u201clegal army\u201d has helped ADF advance its foundational narrative: that conservative Christians, in particular, face persecution in the United States. It was the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty that represented the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby in its successful lawsuit to gain a religious exemption to the Affordable Care Act\u2019s requirement to provide a contraception-coverage benefit. And it was the American Center for Law and Justice that won a major case in 2009 regarding the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. But no organization has played a more pivotal role than ADF in shaping and testing \u201creligious freedom\u201d as the Christian right\u2019s latest legal strategy in the culture wars. And while the Federalist Society has positioned itself as the right\u2019s screening agency for the federal judiciary, no other conservative Christian legal organization has propelled so many attorneys into state and federal government, where they are now in positions to oversee the restructuring of civil-rights and First Amendment law in ADF\u2019s mold.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E24\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the organization pays lip service to supporting religious freedom for all people, a review of 146 of ADF\u2019s appellate and Supreme Court briefs shows that its attorneys are focused almost exclusively on the religious rights of Christians. ADF filed 23 lawsuits challenging Obamacare\u2019s contraception-coverage benefit, three of which reached the Supreme Court on the merits, including \u003Cem\u003EConestoga Wood\u003C\/em\u003E, which was consolidated with \u003Cem\u003EHobby Lobby\u003C\/em\u003E. ADF also took part in 22 cases advocating bans on same-sex marriage, including representing county clerks who objected to marriage equality in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310796-Bostic-v-Schaeffer-4thCir.html\u0022\u003EVirginia\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310797-Bishop-v-US-10th.html\u0022\u003EOklahoma\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E25\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022pull-quote-module\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022pull-quote-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EWe found just five instances in which ADF’s lawyers weighed in on appellate cases involving religious plaintiffs who were not Christian.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E  \n\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\n\u003Cp\u003EOther cases included the defense of prayer or evangelizing in public schools in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.adflegal.org\/detailspages\/case-details\/good-news-club-v.-milford-central-school-district\u0022\u003ENew York\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310767-Curry-v-Hesinger-6thCir.html\u0022\u003EMichigan\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310764-Harper-v-Poway-9thCir.html\u0022\u003ECalifornia\u003C\/a\u003E, and the defense of Christian prayers during legislative sessions in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310752-Atheists-of-Florida-v-City-of-Lakeland-Florida.html\u0022\u003EFlorida\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310760-Bormuth-v-County-of-Jackson-6thCir.html\u0022\u003EMichigan\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310770-Hinrichs-v-Bosma-7thCir.html\u0022\u003EIndiana\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310768-Freedom-From-Religion-Foundation-v-Chino-Valley.html\u0022\u003ECalifornia\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310780-Town-of-Greece-v-Galloway-SCOTUS.html\u0022\u003ENew York\u003C\/a\u003E, including an important Supreme Court \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/13pdf\/12-696_bpm1.pdf\u0022\u003Evictory\u003C\/a\u003E in 2014. ADF has also been an active litigant in the anti-choice movement, defending protesters outside abortion clinics in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310779-Sister-Mary-Rose-Reddy-v-Foster-1st-Cir.html\u0022\u003ENew Hampshire\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310765-Bruni-v-City-of-Pittsburgh-3rd-Cir.html\u0022\u003EPennsylvania\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310772-McCullen-v-Coakley-SCOTUS.html\u0022\u003EMassachusetts\u003C\/a\u003E, including another Supreme Court \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/13pdf\/12-1168_6k47.pdf\u0022\u003Evictory\u003C\/a\u003E in 2014. The organization has defended restrictions on abortion like \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310771-Isaacson-v-Horne-9thCir.html\u0022\u003EArizona\u2019s ban\u003C\/a\u003E on the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy; an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310778-Planned-Parenthood-v-Rounds-8thCir.html\u0022\u003E\u201cinformed consent\u201d law\u003C\/a\u003E in South Dakota; a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310824-Carhart-v-Ashcroft-8thCir.html\u0022\u003Elate-term abortion ban\u003C\/a\u003E in Nebraska; and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310776-Whole-Woman-s-Health-v-Lakey-5thCir.html\u0022\u003ETexas\u2019s\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310777-WholeWomensHealthvHellerstadtSCOTUS.html\u0022\u003EHB2\u003C\/a\u003E, which was \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/15pdf\/15-274_new_e18f.pdf\u0022\u003Estruck down\u003C\/a\u003E by the Supreme Court last year. Lately, ADF has also waded into the campus free-speech wars, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310826-Ward-v-Polite-6thCir.html\u0022\u003Eclaiming\u003C\/a\u003E, for example, that a student counselor at Eastern Michigan University had the right to refuse to counsel LGBTQ clients. The Supreme Court has just \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.adflegal.org\/detailspages\/press-release-details\/us-supreme-court-agrees-to-weigh-in-on-california-law-that-forces-pro-life-centers-to-promote-abortion\u0022\u003Eagreed\u003C\/a\u003E to review another ADF case, this one \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/adflegal.blob.core.windows.net\/web-content-dev\/docs\/default-source\/documents\/case-documents\/national-institute-of-family-and-life-advocates-v.-harris\/national-institute-of-family-and-life-advocates-v-harris\u2014-opening-brief-on-appeal.pdf?sfvrsn=8\u0022\u003Echallenging\u003C\/a\u003E a California law that requires crisis pregnancy centers to inform patients about state programs offering free or low-cost access to abortion, contraception, and prenatal care.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E26\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn ADF spokeswoman said the organization \u201chas an extensive record of representing and advocating for non-Christian parties,\u201d including cities, counties, school districts, veteran organizations, and student groups like the College Republicans and Students for Life.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E27\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYet we found just five instances in which ADF\u2019s lawyers weighed in on appellate cases involving religious plaintiffs who were not Christian. In only two of them did ADF express support for the religious-minority plaintiff\u2014once in a case in which a rabbinical organization \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310766-Central-Rabbinical-Congress-of-the-US-amp-Canada.html\u0022\u003Echallenged\u003C\/a\u003E a public-health regulation on circumcision, and once in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310774-Silverstein-Complaint.html\u0022\u003Esupport\u003C\/a\u003E of an Orthodox Jewish day school claiming that a local permitting process violated its religious rights. ADF also weighed in on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310761-Brown-v-Livingston-5thCir.html\u0022\u003Etwo\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310753-Holt-v-Hobbs-SCOTUS.html\u0022\u003Ecases\u003C\/a\u003E in support of Muslim prisoners who claimed their religious rights had been violated, but in neither did it address the particular facts of the case, making only arguments about what it considered to be a proper interpretation of the relevant statute and, in one case, how that interpretation would affect Christian organizations.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E28\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMost striking was ADF\u2019s amicus brief \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310769-HawaiivTrump-9thCir.html\u0022\u003Efiled\u003C\/a\u003E in the challenge to Trump\u2019s second Muslim ban. That brief effectively supported the ban by laying out a case for why the courts should not consider Trump\u2019s own anti-Muslim statements in determining whether the ban violated the US Constitution\u2019s establishment clause, criticizing the district court for inappropriately \u201ccombing through a government actor\u2019s tweets.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E29\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe overarching story highlighted in this substantial body of ADF\u2019s briefs\u2014most of which are available in public databases\u2014is the organization\u2019s painstaking construction, case by case and argument by argument, of a legal narrative asserting that Christians are under threat of persecution from the advance of LGBTQ and reproductive rights, as well as from secular schools and universities, and that the law must allow Christians to disregard, disobey, or even dismantle laws protecting those rights in order to protect their own rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E30\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Ch6\u003EThe \u201cChrist-Centered\u201d Lawyer\u003C\/h6\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf one law firm in the country embodies the American establishment, it is arguably Jones Day. A powerhouse in Washington, and with thousands of lawyers around the world, including more than 40 former Supreme Court clerks, Jones Day has already funneled at least 14 attorneys into top posts or nominations in the Trump administration. Noel Francisco, Trump\u2019s solicitor general, is a former partner there\u2014and an ADF-affiliated attorney. In September, the firm opened up its expansive seventh-floor conference room, with its unobstructed view of the Capitol, to ADF for a briefing on the Supreme Court\u2019s upcoming term.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E31\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EADF\u2019s Kristen Waggoner made use of the occasion to rehearse the arguments she will soon present before the Court. She depicted Phillips, the Colorado baker, as a well-intentioned, pious artist whose rights are being trampled by a government that refuses to privilege the depth of his religious commitments. For Phillips, a cake is a means of artistic expression that carries \u201cspiritual significance to him and to millions of others.\u201d Waggoner insisted that Phillips had not discriminated against LGBTQ people, but rather that creating a cake for the wedding of Charlie Craig and David Mullins would have violated his religious convictions. The case, she said, isn\u2019t \u201cabout the who, it\u2019s about the what.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E32\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWaggoner, who practiced law in Seattle for 17 years before joining ADF in 2013, is a graduate of the Regent University School of Law, founded by televangelist Pat Robertson to provide a \u201cChrist-centered\u201d legal education. In an interview with \u003Cem\u003EThe Nation\u003C\/em\u003E, Waggoner said that Regent offered her \u201cunique\u201d teaching and an opportunity to study \u201can originalist perspective on the Constitution\u201d as well as \u201cconcepts like religious freedom.\u201d Regent, she said, has produced many of ADF\u2019s \u201cbest lawyers.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E33\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile in private practice, Waggoner litigated a protracted case in which she represented a pharmacist who had refused, on religious grounds, to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives like Plan B. She has also long represented Barronelle Stutzman, a florist (or \u201cfloral artist\u201d) in Richland, Washington, who was sued for violating the state\u2019s antidiscrimination law when she refused to provide flowers for a gay customer\u2019s wedding. ADF has asked the Supreme Court to review the case.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E34\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWaggoner worked alongside ADF on multiple cases, but she only joined its legal staff after she began to witness, in her words, \u201ca government that is becoming far more coercive and less pluralistic.\u201d Not long after she made that decision, in 2014, she told a Southern Baptist Convention conference that nondiscrimination laws were actually being used \u201cto silence Christians, to force them to not live out their convictions\u201d and \u201cinstead to cower in silence.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E35\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWaggoner was chosen to argue \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece Cakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E by ADF\u2019s new president, Michael Farris, a founder of the evangelical Patrick Henry College and the Home School Legal Defense Association, a conservative Christian advocacy group. Farris replaced the retiring Sears as ADF\u2019s president in January. In an\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hughhewitt.com\/alliance-defending-freedom-ceo-general-counsel-mike-farris-masterpiece-cakeshop-ltd-important-free-exercise-case-3-decades\/\u0022\u003E appearance\u003C\/a\u003E on Hugh Hewitt\u2019s conservative radio program, Farris described Waggoner as \u201cjust dynamite\u201d and expressed confidence that she \u201cwill present the argument with real, real aplomb.\u201d Hewitt called Waggoner \u201can amazing woman\u201d and encouraged his listeners to donate money to ADF.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E36\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Ch6\u003EAn Abomination Before God\u003C\/h6\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the context of Phillips\u2019s claim that he objects to the wedding\u2014and not to the gay customers themselves\u2014it is striking that more than a quarter of the 146 ADF appellate briefs we reviewed are arguments for restricting LGBTQ rights. Until very recently, ADF routinely trafficked in slurs against the LGBTQ community, consistently depicting LGBTQ people as promiscuous, uncommitted, and unfit to parent in dozens of its briefs opposing marriage equality.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E37\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a 2006 case in Maryland, ADF maintained that \u201csexual fidelity is rare among homosexual men\u201d and that \u201cthe average homosexual relationship is short.\u201d In a 2009 case in West Virginia, arguing against a lesbian couple\u2019s adoption of a baby they had fostered, ADF noted that the couple had insisted that the court be \u201cforced to treat their home as just as good as any other.\u201d But, ADF wrote, \u201cthis cannot be.\u201d Although the organization had long opposed allowing same-sex couples to marry, in another parenting case, this one in Arkansas in 2010, it used the fact that the couple could not marry as an argument against allowing them to adopt. \u201cIt is logical to prevent children\u2019s exposure to the illicit sexual conduct and revolving-door of adult sexual partners that often accompany cohabitation,\u201d ADF argued.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E38\u003C\/span\u003E\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left indent indents series-modules\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\u003Ch2 class=\u0022series-title\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\n\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022series-modules-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ch4\u003EThe Religious Right\u003C\/h4\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022series-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/the-values-voters-summit-props-up-our-white-supremacist-corporate-oligarchy\/\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003EThe Values Voters Summit Props Up Our White-Supremacist Corporate Oligarchy\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/rev-dr-william-j-barber-ii\/\u0022\u003ERev. Dr. William J. Barber II\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022series-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/to-the-republic-for-which-it-stands\/\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003ETo the Republic, for Which It Stands\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/chris-lehmann\/\u0022\u003EChris Lehmann\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022series-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/religious-right-leaders-blast-trumps-order-as-a-betrayal\/\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003EReligious Right Leaders Blast Trump\u2019s Order as a Betrayal\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/sarah-posner\/\u0022\u003ESarah Posner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E   \n\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\n\u003Cp\u003EOur review of ADF\u2019s briefs also found that the organization repeatedly argued in court that sexual orientation is not a suspect class, and as such that laws denying LGBTQ rights should not be subject to strict scrutiny. That argument is based partly on ADF\u2019s contention, common on the Christian right, that sexual orientation and gender identity, unlike race, are matters of choice.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E39\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a 2012 case before the Montana Supreme Court, for example, Tim Fox\u2014then counsel for an ADF-allied organization, the Montana Family Foundation, and now the state\u2019s attorney general\u2014filed a brief on behalf of ADF. In it, Fox argued that sexual orientation and gender identity should not be considered a suspect class like race because LGBTQ people are not marginalized by society and indeed possess significant political power, as evidenced by the \u201czealous political advocacy\u201d that then-President Obama engaged in on their behalf. In a New Mexico case the following year, ADF argued that \u201ccitizens advocating to redefine marriage are among the most influential groups in modern politics; they have attained more legislative victories, political power, and popular favor in less time than virtually any other group in American history.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E40\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the past 14 years, the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected many of these arguments. In 2003, the Court struck down laws criminalizing sodomy in \u003Cem\u003ELawrence v. Texas\u003C\/em\u003E. In 2013, in \u003Cem\u003EUnited States v. Windsor, \u003C\/em\u003Ethe Court struck down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, which restricted access to federal benefits. Two years later, it formalized marriage equality with \u003Cem\u003EObergefell\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E41\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince \u003Cem\u003EWindsor\u003C\/em\u003E, seeing the handwriting on the wall, ADF has pivoted away from arguments that LGBTQ people aren\u2019t worthy of marriage equality to arguments that marriage equality violates the rights of Christians. By making this argument in \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003ECakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E, ADF is bringing its foundational fear\u2014that the advance of rights for LGBTQ people turns Christians into their victims\u2014to the Supreme Court. In \u003Cem\u003EThe Homosexual Agenda\u003C\/em\u003E, Sears opined that churches would be forced to abandon their faith; once it became clear that the law does not force churches to perform or condone same-sex marriages, ADF expanded its universe of victimized Christians.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E42\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENow the organization aggressively seeks to limit the scope of \u003Cem\u003EObergefell\u003C\/em\u003E, trying to restrict LGBTQ couples from equal access to public accommodations by framing bakers, florists, county clerks, and website designers as persecuted by the application of civil-rights laws. ADF\u2019s brief in \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003ECakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E, for example, argues that the law \u201cmust respect Phillips\u2019s freedom to part ways with the current majority view on marriage\u201d and asserts that true freedom \u201cdoes not crush those who hold unpopular views, pushing them from the public square.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E43\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut back in 2004, when court clerks in California, with the blessing of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, ADF challenged that action directly to the California Supreme Court. The organization argued there was no legal justification whatsoever for the clerks to violate state law by issuing such licenses. In its brief, ADF claimed that \u201cthe Clerk has ignored the law\u2014an improper action regardless of motives or reasons.\u201d The \u201creal and only issue\u201d in the case, the brief continued, was that \u201cpublic officials \u003Cem\u003Emust\u003C\/em\u003E follow the laws\u2014even laws with which they disagree.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E44\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EApparently, in ADF\u2019s view, only conservative Christians have the right to resist.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E45\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIncreasingly wary of being called discriminatory in the wake of a decision last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/fighting-hate\/extremist-files\/group\/alliance-defending-freedom\u0022\u003Elabel it a hate group\u003C\/a\u003E, ADF has redoubled its efforts to portray its views as mainstream. ADF attorneys have adamantly rejected any comparison of the organization\u2019s stance to that of segregationists. At the Jones Day briefing in September, Waggoner declared it \u201coffensive\u201d to compare opponents of same-sex marriage to \u201cthose who are engaged in racial bigotry.\u201d The following month, ADF promoted and took part in a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court, featuring several African-American conservatives who championed the ADF line that race is an immutable characteristic but homosexuality is a choice.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E46\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, speaker after speaker attacked homosexuality itself, using language that would have been right at home in ADF\u2019s earlier briefs. The Rev. William Keen spoke of \u201csome sins that are considered an abomination before God,\u201d and Janet Boynes, an \u201cex-lesbian\u201d activist, called homosexuality a \u201cfalse identity that is rooted in sexual or emotional brokenness,\u201d a \u201cdisorder,\u201d and a \u201crebellion against God\u2019s plan.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E47\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Ch6\u003EADF in Power\u2014in Washington and in the States\u003C\/h6\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2007, a scandal engulfed then-Senator Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, after he was arrested for soliciting sex in a men\u2019s public bathroom. ADF attorney Austin Nimocks responded by\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/townhall.com\/columnists\/austinnimocks\/2007\/09\/28\/cruise-control\u2014straight-talk-on-the-true-nature-of-homosexual-behavior-n1320373\u0022\u003E writing a column\u003C\/a\u003E for the conservative website \u003Cem\u003ETownhall\u003C\/em\u003E. \u201cThose pushing the homosexual agenda, including their accomplices in the media, typically portray presentable and socially successful persons who have purportedly made a lifelong and stable commitment to another person of the same sex,\u201d Nimocks wrote. But the Craig scandal, he continued, \u201cis the true story of homosexual behavior. When the advocates of homosexual expression attempt to sell us the all-American pictures of lifelong, committed same-sex couples, who participate in intimate behavior only in their bedrooms, it is important to know that this is the exception\u2014not the rule.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E48\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the time, Nimocks had been on staff at ADF for just four months. His eight-year career there\u2014litigating on the front lines of ADF\u2019s long battle against marriage equality; arguing cases defending same-sex-marriage bans before the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Wisconsin Supreme Court; testifying before legislative bodies against \u201cSOGI laws\u201d and arguing for religious exemptions\u2014had just begun. He would go on to become one of the organization\u2019s leading attorneys, as ADF\u2019s director of legal advocacy for marriage and family.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E49\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left full-width-mobile image wide indent\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca class=\u0022gallery\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ADF-img.png\u0022 title=\u0022&nbsp\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ADF-img.png\u0022 alt=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv style=\u0022clear:both\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EToday, Nimocks is a top litigator in the office of the Texas attorney general, along with two other former ADF attorneys, David Hacker and Heather Hacker. There, Nimocks has played a leading role in two legal challenges to Obama-era rules protecting transgender rights, in which the Texas AG\u2019s office led a consortium of attorneys general from other states. Each time, Nimocks\u2019s team won nationwide injunctions: one against a Department of Education guidance protecting transgender students\u2019 rights in public schools, and the other against an Affordable Care Act rule prohibiting discrimination against transgender people in health care. The education ruling represented a significant victory for ADF, which had been fighting both the Obama guidance and the school districts that adopted it, claiming that it \u201c[put] the privacy and safety of children at risk.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E50\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t \u003Caside class=\u0022left indent indents related-newarticle author-modules\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch4\u003E \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/sarah-posner\/\u0022\u003EMORE FROM Sarah Posner\u003C\/a\u003E\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/h4\u003E\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022newrelated-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/religious-right-leaders-blast-trumps-order-as-a-betrayal\/\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003EReligious Right Leaders Blast Trump\u2019s Order as a Betrayal\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003EMay 5, 2017\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022newrelated-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/leaked-draft-of-trumps-religious-freedom-order-reveals-sweeping-plans-to-legalize-discrimination\/\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003ELeaked Draft of Trump\u2019s Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003EFebruary 1, 2017\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022newrelated-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/supreme-court-no-excuse-discrimination\/\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch5\u003ESupreme Court: No Excuse for Discrimination\u003C\/h5\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003EJune 26, 2013\u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022newrelated-blocks\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp class=\u0022author\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/sarah-posner\/\u0022\u003EAuthor page\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EKenneth Upton, senior counsel in Lambda Legal\u2019s Dallas office, noted that Nimocks has become \u201ca very powerful person in Texas.\u201d Upton has encountered him in litigation since Nimocks\u2019s days at ADF, and now again in his role in the Texas AG\u2019s Office of Special Litigation. Like other attorneys who have gone up against Nimocks, Upton described him as smart, personable, and courteous. Even so, Upton said, \u201chis views are very extreme\u201d; Nimocks seems to believe \u201cthat LGBT people either don\u2019t exist or shouldn\u2019t exist.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E51\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo Upton, Nimocks is \u201cthe poster child for what ADF has become. Everything he does is textbook what their mission would be and how they would hope to execute it.\u201d (Nimocks declined to comment for this article.)\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E52\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd Nimocks is hardly alone. In the past five years, state attorneys general in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin have hired former ADF staff attorneys, allied attorneys, and Blackstone Fellows. Still others in recent years have brought on ADF attorneys to act as special counsel for the state in cases involving touchstone issues for social conservatives. The Nebraska attorney general, Doug Peterson, has\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journalstar.com\/news\/state-and-regional\/govt-and-politics\/ag-peterson-defends-presence-at-meeting-of-controversial-advocacy-group\/article_f9dd8a95-4886-57fb-9cbd-760d0053ac0e.html\u0022\u003E spoken\u003C\/a\u003E at an ADF conference and called its lawyers \u201csome of the best at what they do.\u201d Attorneys general in Arizona and Oklahoma have brought on ADF staff and allied attorneys to assist in major litigation over abortion and LGBTQ rights. In Mississippi, the governor retained an ADF attorney to represent the state in defending a legal challenge to an anti-LGBTQ law that the organization had helped champion, after the state attorney general declined to defend it.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E53\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EADF and Blackstone alumni also serve in staff positions in the US Congress and as attorneys in the United States military, the Department of Justice, and other federal agencies. Others serve as state legislators, City Council members, district attorneys, and judges. Brian Hagedorn, a Blackstone Fellow who went on to serve as counsel to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, is now an appellate judge in Wisconsin.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E54\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETrump\u2019s election signaled the start of a new phase in ADF\u2019s political reach. So far, Trump has nominated three members of the organization\u2019s \u201clegal army\u201d of allied attorneys to federal judgeships: Kyle Duncan; Jeff Mateer, currently with the Texas attorney general\u2019s office; and Michael Joseph Juneau, a Louisiana attorney. Mateer and Duncan \u201cwere both involved in many cases where ADF also played a role,\u201d an ADF spokesperson said. In addition, Steven Grasz, whom Trump nominated to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit despite Grasz\u2019s having been rated \u201cnot qualified\u201d by the American Bar Association, serves on the board of the Nebraska Family Alliance, which has worked with ADF\u2014including in a successful effort to defeat a bill introduced in the Nebraska Legislature this year that would have provided civil-rights protections to LGBTQ people. (The DOJ did not respond to interview requests for any of these nominees.)\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E55\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the presidential transition, Trump tapped Ken Klukowski, the senior legal editor for \u003Cem\u003EBreitbart\u003C\/em\u003E and a vocal ADF supporter, to\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.lifezette.com\/polizette\/left-launches-anti-gay-smear-trump-transition\/\u0022\u003E advise\u003C\/a\u003E on\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.politico.com\/tipsheets\/politico-influence\/2016\/11\/more-lobbyists-on-the-transition-217372\u0022\u003E constitutional\u003C\/a\u003E issues. Klukowski has said that he attended ADF legal trainings, and he also authored a rosy profile of the organization for\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2012\/07\/09\/alliance-defending-freedom-alan-sears-adf-is-the-antidote-to-the-aclu\/\u0022\u003E \u003Cem\u003EBreitbart\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in 2012, in which he lauded its \u201cmassive and growing impact in courtrooms across America.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E56\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Trump\u2019s nominations, appointments, and actions unfolded, ADF was everywhere. DeVos, whose family has long funded ADF, became the new secretary of education. Ben Carson, who had given at least one speech to an ADF gathering in 2014, came in as Trump\u2019s secretary of housing and urban development. Matthew Bowman, one of ADF\u2019s top litigators on abortion issues and an architect of its opposition to the contraception-coverage benefit under Obamacare, was named deputy general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services. The department almost immediately made moves to repeal the requirement. (Bowman did not respond to a request for comment.)\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E57\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EADF has enjoyed access to other Trump officials. In July, Attorney General Sessions gave a\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/07\/13\/heres-the-speech-jeff-sessions-delivered-to-christian-first-amendment-lawyers\/\u0022\u003E closed-door speech\u003C\/a\u003E to the organization, promising that he would issue guidance ensuring that \u201creligious Americans will be treated neither as an afterthought nor as a problem to be managed.\u201d When Sessions issued that guidance in October, ADF praised specific aspects of its language\u2014\u201cAmericans do not give up their freedom of religion by participating in the marketplace, partaking of the public square, or interacting with government\u201d; \u201cfree exercise of religion includes the right to act or abstain from action in accordance with one\u2019s religious beliefs\u201d\u2014an indication that core ADF arguments had been enshrined in official US policy.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E58\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn September, the Department of Justice filed an\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/16-111-tsac-USA.pdf\u0022\u003E amicus brief\u003C\/a\u003E in \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece Cakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E that legal observers described as unprecedented. In a move that First Amendment attorney Greg Lipper called \u201cquite irregular,\u201d Sessions\u2019s DOJ argued for the restriction of a state civil-rights law\u2014possibly telegraphing an intention to restrict federal civil-rights laws as well. Lipper sees the intervention as a sign of \u201chow influential ADF\u2019s view of things is, even at the highest level of the Justice Department.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E59\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece Cakeshop \u003C\/em\u003Eisn\u2019t the only ADF case that the DOJ has gotten involved in since Sessions became attorney general. The department has moved to intervene in a case in which ADF is representing a college student who claims that his rights of free speech and free exercise of religion were violated when Georgia Gwinnett College asked him to stop preaching outside of the school\u2019s designated free-speech zones. Citing two landmark ADF cases, the DOJ urged the court not to dismiss the case, arguing that it was in the government\u2019s interest to \u201clend its voice\u201d because the student\u2019s \u201cFirst Amendment claims are intertwined with allegations of disparate treatment based on religion.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E60\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECasey Mattox, the director of ADF\u2019s Center for Academic Freedom, said in an interview that the organization has been in communication with the Department of Justice about this and other cases. Mattox refused to identify the DOJ officials with whom ADF had communicated but said, \u201cWe\u2019ve provided information to people in the administration; people in the administration asked for information about our cases.\u201d In response to a query, a DOJ official would say only that it was common in \u201cany possible civil-rights violation\u201d for the department to use \u201cpreexisting relationships with outside organizations to determine if there is a predicate for an investigation.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E61\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left full-width-mobile image wide indent\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca class=\u0022gallery\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ADF4_img.png\u0022 title=\u0022&nbsp\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ADF4_img.png\u0022 alt=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv style=\u0022clear:both\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Waggoner argues \u003Cem\u003EMasterpiece\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003ECakeshop\u003C\/em\u003E before the Supreme Court on December 5, she will have support from the highest levels of the federal government. Francisco, Trump\u2019s solicitor general, asked for argument time in the case, noting that \u201cthe United States has a particular interest in the scope of such rights in the context of the Colorado statute here, which shares certain features with federal public accommodations laws.\u201d Until recently a partner at Jones Day, Francisco also has ties to ADF: The organization\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.adfmedia.org\/News\/PRDetail\/10052\u0022\u003E identified\u003C\/a\u003E him as one of its allied attorneys in an establishment-clause case that Francisco helped ADF litigate in 2016. It is not a relationship that he has made public; Francisco did not mention the organization by name in the questionnaire he submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee in advance of his May confirmation hearing. Francisco\u2019s only acknowledgment of his ADF ties was a mention, on a list of speaking engagements, of his participation on a 2015 panel on law-firm recruiting hosted by the Blackstone Legal Fellowship.\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E62\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKathleen Clark, a professor at Washington University Law School and an expert on government ethics, suggests that \u201cif [Francisco] had a particularly close relationship\u201d with ADF, \u201ca question would arise as to whether he could provide independent, professional judgment to his new client,\u201d the federal government\u2014in other words, whether he could be impartial in a case being argued by ADF. The Department of Justice declined to comment on whether Francisco\u2019s participation in the case had undergone an ethics review. While at Jones Day, Francisco \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.law.com\/nationallawjournal\/sites\/nationallawjournal\/2017\/09\/20\/what-to-know-about-noel-francisco-as-the-new-scotus-term-nears\/\u0022\u003Egave a speech\u003C\/a\u003E at the Heritage Foundation in which he called for lawyers representing religious groups to \u201cbuild powerful cases\u201d with \u201csympathetic plaintiffs\u201d and to \u201cfocus on the florist, on the baker, the sincere small businessmen under attack.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E63\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn December 5, with the full force of the United States government behind it, ADF will be asking the Supreme Court to carve out yawning exemptions from civil-rights laws for conservative Christians. Yet in another case seven years ago, in which several families charged that their public school\u2019s use of a church for graduation ceremonies violated the Constitution\u2019s establishment clause, ADF filed an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4310825-Doe-v-Elmbrook-School-District-7thCir.html\u0022\u003Eamicus brief\u003C\/a\u003E that made a very different argument. At the time, the organization casually dismissed the possible religious objections of Jewish and Muslim students, whose faiths may have prohibitions against entering a church. The state, ADF argued, \u201ccannot possibly organize its affairs to comport with the subjective views of all potentially religious groups.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022paranum hidden\u0022\u003E64\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEditor’s note: This article was edited after publication to clarify ADF’s role in a press conference before the Supreme Court.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/section\u003E\n\n\u003Csection class=\u0022aside-wrap\u0022\u003E\u003C\/section\u003E\n\u003Cfooter class=\u0022article-footer narrow new-article-footer\u0022 id=\u0022article-footer-266151\u0022\u003E\n\n\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022footer-module narrow author-bio\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/sarah-posner\/\u0022\u003E Sarah Posner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022author-twitter\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/@sarahposner\u0022 target=\u0022blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003ESarah Posner is an investigative journalist. Her work in partnership with the Investigative Fund covering the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath has appeared in \u003Ci\u003ERolling Stone \u003C\/i\u003Eand\u00a0\u003Ci\u003EMother Jones\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\t\t\n\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022footer-module narrow contact-us\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTo submit a correction for our consideration, click \u003Ca target=\u0022_blank\u0022 href=\u0022\/corrections?title=The+Christian+Legal+Army+Behind+%E2%80%98Masterpiece+Cakeshop%E2%80%99&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenation.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-christian-legal-army-behind-masterpiece-cakeshop%2F\u0022\u003Ehere.\u003C\/a\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EFor Reprints and Permissions, click \u003Ca target=\u0022_blank\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/www.thenationreprints.com\/services\/reprints\/\u0022\u003Ehere.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022footer-module comments\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Ca class=\u0022click_comment\u0022 href=\u0022\u0022 article-post-id=\u0022266151\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cabbr class=\u0022open\u0022\u003E \u003C\/abbr\u003E \n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cabbr class=\u0022title\u0022\u003EComments (7)\u003C\/abbr\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003C\/a\u003E\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022comments_266151\u0022 class=\u0022commentContainer\u0022 style=\u0022display:none\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C!--Comment area start here --\u003E\n\n\u003Cdiv id=\u0022comments\u0022 class=\u0022comments-area\u0022\u003E\n\n\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022respond\u0022 class=\u0022comment-respond\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\u003Ch3 id=\u0022reply-title\u0022 class=\u0022comment-reply-title\u0022\u003ELeave a Comment \u003Csmall\u003E\u003Ca rel=\u0022nofollow\u0022 id=\u0022cancel-comment-reply-link\u0022 href=\u0022\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php#respond\u0022 style=\u0022display:none;\u0022\u003ECancel reply\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/small\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022must-log-in\u0022\u003EIn order to comment, you must be logged in as a paid subscriber. \u003Ca href=\u0022#TB_inlinepcd_login?width=600&height=550&inlineId=login-content-id-pcd_login\u0022 class=\u0022thickbox comment_login_link\u0022\u003E Click here to log in\u003C\/a\u003E or subscribe.\u003C\/p\u003E\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- #respond --\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C!-- comment sort setting start here --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment_sorting_setting_outer\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022sort_com_label\u0022\u003ESort comments By:\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cselect id=\u0022comment_sorting_setting\u0022 name=\u0022comment_sorting_setting\u0022 class=\u0022comment_sorting_setting\u0022 comment_postid=\u0022266151\u0022 my-ajax-url=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Coption sort-attr=\u00221\u0022  selected=selected\u003EChronological Order\u003C\/option\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Coption sort-attr=\u00222\u0022  \u003EMost Liked\u003C\/option\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003C\/select\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C!-- comment sort setting end here --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022clear\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\u003C!-- comment list start here --\u003E\n\t\n\t\t\u003Col class=\u0022comment-list custom_comments\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\t   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945292\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-600365571 even thread-even depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945292\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945292\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003EM Vince Turner\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T20:20:19+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 8:20 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EHow sad it is that these purveyors of total intolerance and hypocrisy would raise up "Christian" faith.  They are not Christian.  They are the Devil's own, the false prophets, the hypocrites and wolves in sheep's cloth about which Scripture warns.  Their tyranny against God and Christ is fully transparent.  Their folly is in their works that are in direct conflict with The Teachings.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945292,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E3\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945292,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E0\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945292\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca onclick=\u0022safe_report_comments_flag_comment(\u00272109945292\u0027,\u00279b1a33ca03\u0027,\u0027safe-comments-result-2109945292\u0027)\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0);\u0022 class=\u0022hide-if-no-js imgHover\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg title=\u0022Flag Comment\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/safe-report-comments\/img\/flag.png\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-content --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945291\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-600257208 odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945291\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945291\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003ESherry Bural\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T20:11:56+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 8:11 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EThe problem with the so called Christian perspective is that none of these " artists" can find examples of jesus refusing to serve those He considered to be sinners.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945291,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E5\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945291,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E0\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945291\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca onclick=\u0022safe_report_comments_flag_comment(\u00272109945291\u0027,\u00279b1a33ca03\u0027,\u0027safe-comments-result-2109945291\u0027)\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0);\u0022 class=\u0022hide-if-no-js imgHover\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg title=\u0022Flag Comment\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/safe-report-comments\/img\/flag.png\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-content --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945290\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-000047795 even thread-even depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945290\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945290\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003ECarla Skidmore\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T20:03:12+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 8:03 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EIf this baker, in his private life, wishes to not dine, or speak, or have a friendship with someone who is LBGTQ+, that is within his right.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nHowever, he is a business man. His business is selling baked goods, cakes of all varieties, cookies, and bread, to the public. He is not a church, he is a businessman, and thus should not question the religion, sexual orientation, age, or weight of his customers. Sell the cakes, decorate them as he is asked to do. Would he tell an overweight man or woman that he will not sell them cookies because they "don't need cookies, they needed to lose 50 pounds and were too fat?"  I do not think that that conversation would take place. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nHis religion should be private and he should not bring it into the workplace.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nA nurse I once knew refused to hang blood products because her religion forbade transfusions. She was told that she would hang the blood, as she could refuse a blood transfusion for herself, but not for a patient whose religion differed from hers. Granted, two people are required when a patient receives a blood transfusion, and the other nurse may have actually "hung" that blood bag, and the nurse who was a Jehovah Witness, just observed, and verified that the blood type was correct, but she did have to do what her job entailed her to do.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945290,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E3\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945290,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E0\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945290\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca onclick=\u0022safe_report_comments_flag_comment(\u00272109945290\u0027,\u00279b1a33ca03\u0027,\u0027safe-comments-result-2109945290\u0027)\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0);\u0022 class=\u0022hide-if-no-js imgHover\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg title=\u0022Flag Comment\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/safe-report-comments\/img\/flag.png\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-content --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945287\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-600118160 odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945287\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945287\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003ERobert Borneman\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T15:09:57+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 3:09 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EI appreciate the presentation of this rogues' gallery of those who seek liberty only for themselves.  On the other hand, and speaking as a non-"straight" person, I wish to take issue with some of Ms. Posner's phrasing of the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.  For example, Posner writes:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n"At the core of Masterpiece Cakeshop is a radically revisionist idea: that laws protecting the civil rights of historically marginalized groups can violate the free-speech rights of the people who refuse to serve them."\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThe problem is that Phillips did not refuse to serve the gay couple as a gay couple.  He was willing to serve them in his store, in his commercial exchange by selling them a cake he had already made.  He was not willing to put his artistic work to design an explicitly same-sex marriage-themed cake decoration, however.  Posner's phrasing here seems a bit misleading in its overgeneralization and lack of context\/nuance.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAnother example:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n"The conservative Christian and \u201ccake artist\u201d had been found in violation of Colorado\u2019s anti-discrimination law when he refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple."\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThis is both technically correct and also substantively wrong.  Phillips (the "cake artist" - and the scare quotes are decontextualized as he really does see himself as an artist, a role I do not feel deserves to be mocked) readily agreed to sell the couple any cake in his shop.  He refused, however, to specifically bake AND decorate a cake for the gay couple.  To put it simply as refusing to bake a cake for them is misleading.  He was not refusing service to them whatsoever, he was refusing his service as an artist to them.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nI write music.  I also accept commissions.  If, however, a Christian group came to me and asked me to write a song about how Jews killed Jesus, I would refuse.  I do not want to use my artistry as a composer to be used for such a "religious" claim.  If an Israeli nationalist group came and asked me to write a song about how Muslims in Palestine hate Jews, I would also refuse - regardless of whether such a request is based on religious identity or racial\/ethnic identity, I will not let my artistry be co-opted for a political\/religious message I  do not approve of.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThe difference between Masterpiece Cakeshop and Newman v Piggie Park resides in the difference between a request for a particular political expression to be made explicit and a general denial of service on the basis of race.  Phillips did not deny the gay couple use of or purchase of his cakes, he denied them use of his services to craft a specific message with which he disagreed.  He is in a private business, not a state employee (thus this also being different from court-issued marriage certificates).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWhile it is good to see sympathies towards gays presented in articles like this, I fear that the failure to articulate other aspects of the case (other than the ugly self-serving Christian fundamentalist part - which, yes, is ascendant in the case), risks placing a single issue (gay rights) over other, larger,  complex issues (free speech, freedom of religion).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThen again, I am one of those non-straight people who also applauded the Supreme Court ruling in the Snyder vs. Phelps case (in which the hideous and notorious Fred Phelps "won").  I am most certainly NOT against gay rights (I had a fight a legal case to protect my job based on anti-gay discrimination) - but I am against oversimplification of the issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945287,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E11\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945287,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E5\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945287\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca onclick=\u0022safe_report_comments_flag_comment(\u00272109945287\u0027,\u00279b1a33ca03\u0027,\u0027safe-comments-result-2109945287\u0027)\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0);\u0022 class=\u0022hide-if-no-js imgHover\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg title=\u0022Flag Comment\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/safe-report-comments\/img\/flag.png\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-content --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945286\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-600110159 even thread-even depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945286\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945286\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003EDoug Barr\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T15:06:22+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 3:06 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EWhen the Christian bakers asked Jesus what to do they couldn't hear, "Bake the Goddamned cake" because their ears were full of dough. https:\/\/thelastwhy.ca\/poems\/2010\/4\/4\/jesus-song.html\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945286,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E3\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945286,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E4\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945286\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca onclick=\u0022safe_report_comments_flag_comment(\u00272109945286\u0027,\u00279b1a33ca03\u0027,\u0027safe-comments-result-2109945286\u0027)\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0);\u0022 class=\u0022hide-if-no-js imgHover\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg title=\u0022Flag Comment\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/safe-report-comments\/img\/flag.png\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-content --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945285\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-600191159 odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945285\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945285\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003EPatricia Boice\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T14:58:41+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 2:58 pm\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EThis is scary stuff!  And now we have the debated new tax code proposing to lift the ban against churches being involved in politics.   The religious right tail is wagging the secular dog, and with the makeup of this current Supreme Court nothing surprises me when it comes to religious\/sex issues!\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945285,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E2\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945285,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E1\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945285\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca onclick=\u0022safe_report_comments_flag_comment(\u00272109945285\u0027,\u00279b1a33ca03\u0027,\u0027safe-comments-result-2109945285\u0027)\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0);\u0022 class=\u0022hide-if-no-js imgHover\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg title=\u0022Flag Comment\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/safe-report-comments\/img\/flag.png\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\u003C\/span\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-content --\u003E\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\t\t\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C!-- #comment-## --\u003E\n   \u003Cli id=\u0022comment-2109945274\u0022 class=\u0022comment byuser comment-author-005207816 even thread-even depth-1\u0022\u003E\n   \u003Carticle id=\u0022div-comment-2109945274\u0022 commentIDVal=\u00222109945274\u0022 class=\u0022comment-body \u0022\u003E\n   \t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cb class=\u0022fn\u0022\u003EWalter Pewen\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Cspan class=\u0022says\u0022\u003Esays:\u003C\/span\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022comment-metadata\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ctime datetime=\u00222017-11-28T10:17:15+00:00\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 28, 2017 at 10:17 am\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/time\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C!-- .comment-metadata --\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EWatch out for that homosexual agenda.   Anybody can come in or out.  Lol.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ldc-cmt-box clearfix\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945274,\u0027c_like\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/up.png\u0022 alt=\u0022upimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E1\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022ldc-ul_cont\u0022 onclick=\u0022alter_ul_post_values(this,2109945274,\u0027c_dislike\u0027)\u0022 \u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/down.png\u0022 alt=\u0022downimg\u0022\/\u003E(\u003Cspan\u003E6\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan class=\u0022safe-comments-report-link\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cspan id=\u0022safe-comments-result-2109945274\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Ca 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