This morning, House Democrats passed H.R. 5376, the so-called “Build Back Better Act.” It’s better known as the “Tear Down, not Build Back Act,” or the “Socialist Tax and Spending Spree.” The 2,466-page bill contains Equality Act language, pushes the Left’s radical agenda in public schools, and could force you to pay for abortion. Read our press release statement here.

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy fought against the bill for over 8 hours last night in a record-breaking floor speech- causing the vote on the legislation to be delayed. Unfortunately, only one Democrat listened to reason and the bill passed this morning 220-213.

Here are some of the worst anti-family provisions to the bill:

Equality Act Agenda

Radical Left Policies in Public Schools

Taxpayer Funded Abortions

The “Tear Down, not Build Back Act” is now headed to the Senate. We will keep you updated on how you can tell your Senator to STOP this dangerous legislation!

In the meantime, the Senate started debating the National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation still contains Equality Act language and would force women to register for the draft. Tell your Senator to tell them to STOP the left’s radical gender agenda and DON’T draft our daughters here.

While news like this can be discouraging, know that our team at Family Policy Alliance is committed to standing against these radical, anti-family agendas. We just recently saw how the tide is turning on these issues in Virginia, and in other elections across the nation. We can’t stop fighting now- will you join us?

For faith, family, and freedom,

Nicole Hudgens
Government Affairs

Your support to Family Policy Alliance and the alliance of state family policy councils we host is making family policy THE issue on the ballot.

For decades we have seen our culture decline while the far Left targets our parents and kids. Our parents have been told they don’t matter. They want families to forego the hopes and dreams we have for our children and allow them to be indoctrinated by the divisive and failed ideology of state-controlled thought.

At Family Policy Alliance, we were encouraged by the election results in Virginia and New Jersey. We know that the ground that was gained yesterday for families in America was huge. We also know that it was just a beginning—the opening battles in a much larger fight as we head into 2022.

The far Left and their leaders don’t want the voice of parents to matter. They aren’t going to stand down or change direction willingly. We know this. There is too much at stake for them and their decades-long plan to erase families—from conception of our children through their education and how they choose to live, work and enjoy the greatness of America that God has blessed us with.

The time is now, and our moment is here. We need to rise to this challenge and make sure that the victory in Virginia and gains in New Jersey are not just one-and-done events. You saw for yourself the power of leaders who don’t shrink from standing up for our values in family policy. The far Left threw everything and the kitchen sink at the candidates yesterday. They even resorted to calling Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin and Lt. Governor-elect Winsome Sears (the first African American woman elected statewide in Virginia) racist because they believe in – you guessed it – families and parents.

Family Policy Alliance is America’s leading national organization standing up for the civil rights of parents and families in state, local and federal policy. What makes us unique is our focus on organizing, educating and mobilizing around family policy.

We host an alliance of the most talented, impactful and amazing organizations working to advance the rights of families in America. What made the success possible yesterday was the work two of the forty state organizations in that alliance. The Family Foundation in Virginia and Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey organized, educated and mobilized voters like never before. And the leaders in Washington DC, pundits and news stations all took notice. It was their work and the good people who support it locally that ushered in this huge change in the national conversation about families.

And this work is just beginning. FPA hosts this alliance so the lessons learned that led to the victories for families last night can be shared across America as we head into 2022. Together, our organizations will invest more than $30 million just this year in the cause of family policy. Our alliance has more than 300 employees, dozens of lawyers, millions of advocates and more than 40,000 churches.

If you don’t already support the work of your state Family Policy Council Alliance member, we encourage you to get involved now!

Thank you again for your amazing support of  Family Policy Alliance. Praise God that he is using each of us in such a powerful way for families today!!

Please, stay plugged in. Look for the videos and invitations we send for you to participate. Support your state organization, and if you are in one of the states yet to have its own organization (OR, NV, IL, VT, OK, – help us create one there now!

Thanks again and may God bless your family,

Craig DeRoche
President and CEO

By: Jonathan Lange

It was Joseph Heller’ 1961 novel that introduced the term “Catch-22” into America’s modern vocabulary. In Heller’s “Catch-22,” he satirized a bureaucratic loop that prevented a military man from requesting a psychological evaluation because, according to the “catch-22” rule, the very act of asking proved he didn’t need one. Merriam-Webster defines the essential meaning of this phrase as “a difficult situation for which there is no easy or possible solution.”

The American Library Association (ALA) touts Heller’s novel among the famous “banned books.” However, it was only temporarily banned in one Ohio library from 1971-1974.

Banned Books Week, which takes place the last week of September every year, gives a platform for libraries to treat parental concerns with utter contempt. They ban classics while housing sexually explicit books in children’s libraries.

First, it gives woke school administrators—not parents— the ability to remove classics like John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” from a high school English curriculum.This enables them to claim that these books are “censored.” Second, the ALA uses the dubious claim to include these kinds of books on their “Top 10 #BannedBooksList.”

Third, the same ALA then puts eight other books on the list that are truly objectionable but makes it look on a par with American classics.

This brings us to the real Catch-22: The pornographic language and pictures found in the children’s book section of Wyoming’s libraries. This obscenity is so over-the-top that these books would never be printed in any respectable newspaper.

Any teacher or librarian unable to see why sane parents would object to the open display of “Doing It,” “The V-Word,” and “This Book is Gay” in the children’s section of a library has no business being around our children. Despite what progressive ideologues will tell you, this has nothing to do with “sexual identity” and everything to do with exposing children to inappropriate sexual content.

So, what can we do about it in Wyoming?

First, educate yourself. Concerned citizens should use the card catalogue of every child’s library to search for books of a sexual or otherwise objectionable nature. Work with other people in the community to share this workload.Second, go and talk to administrators to discuss your findings. Seek a solution that protects the community’s children. Sexually objectionable books should, at the bare minimum, not be displayed on the direct eye-level of your average seven-year-old. These books must be moved to the adult part of the library.

Third, learn the library’s policies that pertain to your concerns. If it is not being followed, correct the abuse. If the policy itself is inadequate, go to the appropriate oversight board—either the school board or the library board. Schools and counties are not answerable to the American Library Association. They are answerable to the voters.

Finally, remember that it is not only the business of parents to make public libraries safe for their children. It is the business of the entire community.

Your voice must be heard. This should not have to be a Catch-22.

By: Jonathan Lange



NathanWinters
Executive Director

 

While the temperatures have been falling across the country, the Biden Administration has been hit with a heat tsunami for doubling-down on their radical gender agenda.

Last week, the House Judiciary Oversight Committee Hearing caught fire when the Attorney General was asked questions about the Department of Justice Memo deploying the FBI in every federal district. Why did the DOJ want to deploy the FBI? Because parents are standing up and speaking out against radical gender ideologies, critical race theory, and more at their local school board meetings.

The DOJ Memo was issued after the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a letter to the White House calling out concerned parents who stand against radical ideologies. The NSBA letter identified parents’ actions as “threats” and “equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism.”

Exchanges in the House hearing revealed alarming information on the Biden-Harris Administration including:

The Attorney General’s responses haven’t aged well since the NSBA Board now says they “regret and apologize” for the letter and several state school board associations have distanced themselves from NSBA after the incident. And members of the House Judiciary Committee have called for Attorney General Garland to withdraw the memo.

But on Friday, the Biden-Harris Administration, completely tone-deaf, released a new gender strategy document. The 42-page document, entitled “National Strategy on Gender Equality and Equity” outlines the Administration’s promotion of a range of liberal priorities– including transgender policies – in schools, the workforce, and international efforts. The document also promotes abortion and the removal of the Hyde Amendment, meaning President Biden wants to force taxpayers to pay for abortion.

Read our press statement here.

Today, in a lively Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, the Attorney General received more questioning about the DOJ memo. Here are a few highlights:

Amid this crazy storm, one thing is clear: parents have a God-given right to speak out and stand up for their children. And we will continue to stand with them. But this will take a significant investment of money and resources.

Will we let the left cancel parents’ voices at school board meetings, and even members of Congress, from daring to speak truth about biological reality? Or, will we come together and push back?

Join us today in taking a stand against radical gender ideology coming out of Woke DC that is now showing up in children’s schools, affecting their safety, and silencing their parents.

Your generous gift will help us know how aggressively we can fight back against the political agenda spreading out of D.C.

For our children,

Nicole Hudgens,
Government Affairs

This week, the Biden Administration directed the FBI to conduct meetings in every federal judicial district related to “threats” and “terrorism” in local school districts.

Why? Because parents are standing up and speaking out against radical ideologies like gender theory, critical race theory, and more at their local school board meetings. Now, the Department of Justice is deploying the FBI to investigate your community.

To be clear, acts or threats of violence against school boards members are wrong.

However, the federal government is now extending its long arms to areas that should be handled by local mayors, school principals and school boards, and law enforcement.

This an attempt to undermine families and self-governance—even corrupting America itself. We are a splendid chaos of tens of thousands of local civic governments made of the people, by the people and for the people. When people are allowed to dissent, that political pain can bring about much needed change. When the political leaders don’t improve things, people can vote with their feet and simply move. But that’s what extreme liberals, particularly the Biden Administration, seem to be afraid of. Their plan unravels if Americans are allowed to exercise their freedoms.

For example, Detroit Public Schools went from having 169,363 students in the year 2000 to only 47,959 students in 2015. This is what freedom looks like when parents believe that school curriculum, policy and instruction fail their kids and the school boards don’t hear their voices. Nearly all the parents took their kids to neighboring public schools that would listen to their concerns and teach their children properly.

The far Left wants to create an America where the people in Detroit can’t leave bad decision-making behind for other cities and states, and they can’t put their kids in different school districts—where parents can’t even raise their voices in the first place. They want to take away dissent and choice, spreading instead failure, flawed ideology, and the consequences of foolish decisions.

Deploying the FBI to investigate parents who are speaking against radical agendas is a grave sign that the federal government intends to create a chilling effect for those who oppose their ideologies. But parents won’t back down when it comes to their children.

Family Policy Alliance is committed to protecting the freedom of parents to dissent.

We’re actively working to thwart the Biden-Harris Department of Education’s agenda to exploit Title IX, the federal law intended to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls in education, to advance the transgender agenda. We pray for bold citizens and parents, especially those with daughters in school, to stand with us.

We’ve also heard the requests for help from countless parents over the years, asking for information about their rights, what’s going on at their child’s school, and how to protect their children. In partnership with Focus on the Family, we’ve released the first-ever Back to School for Parents Guide designed to help parents protect their children—and their parental rights—in every area of the school. Whether in the classroom, sports fields, counselor’s office, on school devices or internet, or beyond, this Guide is full of practical help for busy (and concerned!) parents. American College of Pediatricians described this Guide as “the most important book a parent will ever read.”

Download your FREE copy today!

If being a concerned parent makes you “wanted,” then we’re honored to stand with you as fellow “fugitives.”

For the America our kids deserve,

Craig DeRoche,
President & CEO

 

 

With students returning to the classroom this fall, the battle for the minds of the emerging generation is escalating. Parents have amplified their voices at local school board hearings and through grassroots advocacy efforts, yet what has become more apparent than ever is the need for greater involvement in the education of our children.

Parents are the primary educators of their children. Though they may choose to entrust their child to a government school, parents are ultimately responsible for overseeing their children’s education. So, what can parents do when they see some within the government schools try to educate children away from the self-evident truth of God’s Word?

First, understand these controversial lessons are only supporting the larger cultural narrative that children are being swept up into. Social media influencers on Tik Tok and Instagram have more influence over your child than a teacher. We regularly encourage parents to request lesson plans and review curriculum even to the point of recently having to pursue legal action in Cheyenne to help parents. However, if you take these actions, but never check what phone apps your child spends hours engaged in, you might have overlooked the most dangerous tool being used against your family.

Second, talk to your children appropriately about sex and gender. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Use our Gender Resource Guide as a conversation starter. Prepare yourself with biblical answers presented intellectually and compassionately. Our friends at Focus on the Family have many Sex Education resources. Don’t just have this conversation once. It must be an ongoing dialogue as your beliefs can be intentionally undermined at school multiple times throughout K-12 primary education.

Third, spend time with your family. Yes, it’s that simple. Experts agree that a child’s development is influenced predominantly by their family because it is the primary social group they belong to. Family movie nights and taco Tuesdays are beneficial to building familial bonds that are not easily broken. Most importantly, bring them to church each week and have them participate in youth ministry or a small group Bible study.

These suggestions might sound basic, but the reality is most of us need to improve in all three areas. I pray you stay encouraged and optimistic that you can make a difference in your child or grandchild’s life.

Standing with you in protecting your family,

Nathan Winters
Executive Director

As students return to the classroom this week, the battle for the minds of the emerging generation is escalating. Parents have amplified their voices at local school board hearings and through grassroots advocacy efforts. Yet there has been little change or consideration of their views.

We know parents are the primary educators of their children. Though they may choose to entrust their child to a government school, parents are ultimately responsible for overseeing their children’s education. So, what can parents do to counteract the influence government schools are having on their children?

First, understand these controversial lessons are only supporting the larger cultural narrative that children are being swept up into. Social media influencers on Tik Tok and Instagram have more influence over your child than a teacher. We regularly encourage parents to request lesson plans and review curriculum. However, if you take these actions, but never check what phone apps your child spends hours engaged in, you might have overlooked the most dangerous tool being used against your family.

Second, talk to your children about sex and gender. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Use our Gender Resource Guide as a conversation starter. Prepare yourself with biblical answers presented intellectually and compassionately. Our friends at Focus on the Family have many Sex Education resources. Don’t just have this conversation once. It must be an ongoing dialogue as your beliefs will be intentionally undermined at school multiple times throughout K-12 primary education.

Third, spend time with your family. Yes, it’s that simple. Experts agree that a child’s development is influenced predominantly by their family because it is the primary social group they belong to. Family movie nights and taco Tuesdays are beneficial to building familial bonds that are not easily broken. Most importantly, bring them to church each week and have them participate in youth ministry or a small group Bible study.

These suggestions might sound basic, but the reality is most of us need to improve in all three areas. I pray you stay encouraged and optimistic that you can make a difference in your child or grandchild’s life.

Protecting your family,

Shawn Hyland
Executive Director

Long before we reach adulthood, we learn this simple truth: God made everyone different. We are all unique: our circumstances, our strengths, and our weaknesses often require individualized approaches.

While most see this self-evident truth as children, our education system often fails to recognize this reality. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work! Last year, as parents attempted to navigate through the challenges of our education system—a challenge made even more complex as the response to Covid-19 unfolded – this reality became even clearer.  Every parent wants their children to succeed, but across America we saw that states with educational choice were far better equipped to help families seek the best options for their children.

Sadly, according to EdChoice, 95.1% of Wyoming’s children have no alternative to the public education system. This places Wyoming 50th (dead last) in the nation for school choice, even after many years of work on educational options.

In 1971, my father saw firsthand the effects of the National Education Association on Christian kids in the public school system. He resigned as a public-school principal and started a private school to teach the timeless truths of Christianity and Western civilization.  I am so thankful that I grew up in a home where the classics were loved, history was treated with value, and the sciences were treated with respect. As his son, I am so thankful for his vision and for the wonderful education he and my mother worked so hard to provide.

That is why Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming is happy to partner with schools and families to grow parent-driven and student-centered education. We are excited to welcome you to ED307, an effort to promote religious and private education in homes and schools across the state of Wyoming. We are happy to join with Representative Sue Wilson as we work to bring resources to help current schools and to promote new school opportunities across the state of Wyoming.  This will happen by providing a forum for successful schools to share their best practices, offering online webinars from leading private school experts on good school administration, and watching for legislative roadblocks.  We look forward to a fruitful endeavor this school year and in the years ahead.

Of course, we will continue to stand for what is good and true in the public education system. Our commitment is to stand for truth in every arena. Please consider a donation to the Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming as we stand for our children!

For Truth,

Nathan Winters
Executive Director

Rachel Levine, President Biden’s pick for Deputy Secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, has a message for transgender-identifying students. Levine is a biological male who identifies as a woman.

 

“Back to school” is a driving force for most American families this month. Even the Biden Administration, bringing to bear the weight of three major departments—the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice—is joining in with a message for students. Specifically, students who identify as transgender.

These three departments released a video this month welcoming transgender-identifying students back to school. Their message? Transgender-identifying students have a “right” to access harmful and experimental hormones to “transition” their bodies, and girls no longer have a right to fair competition in sports.

It’s a bit of an ironic message. Children struggling with how they feel in their God-given bodies have an invented right to harm and even sterilize themselves before they reach the age of 18—yet they can’t even purchase cough syrup over-the-counter.

Meanwhile, young female athletes, who actually do have a legal right under Title IX to fair competition reserved only for girls, no longer have that right. That’s because a boy who identifies as a girl—at any time, for any reason—must be allowed to compete on girls’ teams and access girls’ championship and scholarship opportunities.

It’s also disturbing that the role of parents in raising and caring for their children —and in major decisions about physically altering their bodies to look more like the opposite sex—was missing from the video.

And the video didn’t stop there. The Biden officials also took direct shots at states whose lawmakers are boldly fighting to protect children. They criticized West Virginia for saving girls’ sports for only girls—among seven other states. And they called out Arkansas for being the first state in the nation to pass a law prohibiting harmful and experimental “gender transition” on children.

Family Policy Alliance’s message to these states: Keep up the good work! Our mission is to help as many other states as possible follow your lead in protecting children and pushing back against the Biden Administration’s harmful LGBT agenda.

Family Policy Alliance also has a very different Back-to-School message than the Biden Administration. We partnered with our friends at Focus on the Family to release the first-ever, parent-focused back-to-school guide:  Back to School—for Parents.

The Guide includes practical help on how to protect your child at school, as well as loving help for parents on how to talk with children about these difficult issues. The Guide addresses concerns parents may have for their children:

Download your free copy of Back to School—for Parents here!

Our friends at the American College of Pediatricians said: “Back to School—for Parents is the most important book a parent will ever read.”

The Biden Administration has made their position clear. They want access to our children to advance their agenda, and parents who disagree should be side-stepped.

It is more important for today’s children, perhaps more than any other generation, for parents to be both informed and equipped to protect their children. That is the heart behind Back to School—for Parents.

So, to the parents sending their children back to school—we stand with you as you protect your young ones, raise them according to biblical values, and safeguard their futures!

To the states and state lawmakers passing good legislation that protects children from harmful political agendas—we stand with you as you face political criticism and backlash from Big Business, Big Tech and Woke DC!

For families and for His glory,Autumn Stroup.jpg
autumn signature
Autumn Leva
Vice President for Strategy

 

P.S. Family Policy Alliance is making it a top priority to equip parents, help parents engage in the political process when they need to protect their families, and train and equip lawmakers to boldly advance family values. The needs are growing, and we need your generous support! Please consider a gift today!

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You have heard about it all over the media. It has really come to a head now that it is infiltrating our schools. Many parents are upset, even those who typically support more “progressive” educational approaches.

What is Critical Race Theory? (CRT) That is actually a more difficult question than you might first think, and frankly creates some of the problems surrounding it. As the American Bar Association states, “Crenshaw—who coined the term ‘CRT’—notes that CRT is not a noun, but a verb. It cannot be confined to a static and narrow definition but is considered to be an evolving and malleable practice.” It’s pretty hard to have an intelligent discussion about such a controversial issue if you can’t even define it or use the term correctly (I have yet to hear anyone on either side of the argument use it as a verb).

That said, the most consistent explanation I’ve seen is that CRT focuses on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation’s institutions and that these institutions seek to maintain the dominance of white people in society. It asserts that unequal outcomes are the result of subtle societal and institutional biases, and that historical patterns of racism are ingrained in law and other modern institutions, rather than racism of individuals per se. I think I am safe assuming that the theory would posit that if institutions, law, etc. in general have racist biases, they had to come from somewhere, and that “somewhere” are the racists in the past and present who set up and perpetuate these elements of society. So fundamentally, I would assert that it actually is individual racism at its core. This assertion is affirmed in a statement by Ibrim X. Kendi “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only Remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” How to be an AntiRacist pg.19

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s ask ourselves a question: Are our nation’s institutions, laws, and other societal elements racist? I think we would all agree that racism persists in some of these places – to what extent would depend on the particular institution or element of society. The nexus of racism and our country’s history cannot be denied, particularly towards those who are black.

So then, where is the problem and why all the controversy? There are two reasons for it, I believe.

First, those who currently are using CRT to advance their causes want the American public to view everything through the lens of racism. In other words, everything in our society is suspect. Seemingly neutral concepts almost always are imputed with deep racial significance. Frankly, this is ridiculous.

Let me give you an example. If you are Norwegian, then you can view everything through racism towards Norwegians, whether correct or not. You didn’t get that car loan – racism in banking institutions. Your daughter didn’t get into that elite college – educational racism. The police pull you over more often than other drivers – law enforcement racism. You see where this is going don’t you? Never mind that you’re buried in credit card debt from Amazon purchases, your daughter typically gets average grades, or that you’ve recently been speeding when you drive. “They’re all out to get me. I’m always a victim because I’m Norwegian.” As they say, people see what they want to see, and if you want to see racism everywhere, you will.

The second reason CRT has sprung to the forefront is that it now involves our children. It’s one thing if something adversely affects us as adults, but it’s entirely different if it affects our kids, particularly when it comes to what they are being taught. My wife refers to this as the “mama bear effect”, although I would maintain that we dads can also turn into bears when appropriate.

That is why you are seeing such pushback. You have educators saying that there is no CRT being taught in their schools, based on the teachers’ definition of CRT. Parents on the other hand are up in arms that the school is blatantly teaching CRT to their children, based on the parents’ definition. Take the following examples.

Sources: The Daily Caller and Washington Examiner

The list of examples is startlingly long, but I’m here to tell you the good news that parents are pushing back and pushing back hard. This past legislative session, five states passed anti-CRT schooling bills and another 17 introduced such bills into their state legislatures.

Parents are ousting school board members who want to embed CRT into curriculum. In liberal Loudoun County, Va., there was strong opposition to the district’s plans to adopt new diversity initiatives. As a result, there was an attempt to recall board members. In a Connecticut school district, three incumbent school board members that supported CRT were voted out and replaced by parents opposed to the curriculum being taught to their children.

In a recent poll, 58 percent of Americans had an “unfavorable view” of critical race theory, compared to only 38 percent of Americans with a “favorable view”. Most telling however was that 71 percent of independents had a “very unfavorable view”. Keep in mind, this issue will very likely have ramifications for the next election cycle too.

What can you do to make sure CRT does not infiltrate our Wyoming Schools?

First, get involved at the school board level. The Wyoming Department of Public Instruction is not going to determine whether CRT is taught in your particular district, but the school board will. Make sure you have the right people on your local school board who will not allow CRT theory or curriculum.

Let me assure you that our organization will continue to fight to keep CRT out of Wyoming schools. We want an accurate portrayal of our county’s history and current situation to be taught to our children, even if we have to go all “mama bear” to make it happen.

For truth,

Nathan Winters
Executive Director