Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an American Christian legal advocacy organisation designated as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. [1] It is the primary driver of anti-trans litigation in the United States and has extensive international connections.
ADF has been behind most major US anti-trans legal cases: [2]
A Mother Jones investigation (March 2023) revealed ADF’s central role in a national network coordinating anti-trans healthcare bans. South Dakota state Rep. Fred Deutsch initiated the group in August 2019, emailing 18 anti-trans activists, doctors, and lawyers with a bill text making it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to trans minors under 16. [3]
Vernadette Broyles, president and general counsel of the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, an ADF affiliate, urged Deutsch to raise the age threshold to 18, warning that other religious-right groups would not support the bill if “you start by giving away 16 and 17-year olds right from the outset.” Others in the group included:
Deutsch’s bill, the “Vulnerable Child Protection Act,” was killed in the South Dakota Senate in 2020, but became a national template — at least 18 states subsequently introduced bills with closely resembling language. Broyles compiled lobbying materials including a parent-targeted guide, urging recipients to “share these with your legislators and feel free disseminate them as widely as possible with allies. We hope they become weapons in the hands of many warriors!”
ADF co-leads the “Promise to America’s Children” campaign alongside The Heritage Foundation and the Christian nationalist lobbying group Family Policy Alliance. The campaign pushes anti-LGBTQ legislation claiming the government and media impose “explicit, sexual content” on children.
The American Principles Project, another coalition member, stated its goal is to eliminate all transition care — starting with children because that is “where the consensus is.”
ADF represents the far-right’s legal infrastructure across multiple fronts:
Alasdair Henderson, current EHRC commissioner, was Vice-chair of Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) when it partnered with ADF. [4] This places Henderson one degree of separation from the primary US anti-trans legal machine.
ADF (US anti-trans litigation hub)
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Lawyers Christian Fellowship (UK partner)
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Alasdair Henderson (LCF Vice-chair → EHRC commissioner)
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EHRC anti-trans interventions
ADF operates globally through: [5]
In July 2026, Amnesty International UK formally listed ADF International among 51 gender-critical organizations designated as “anti-rights” in its report A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK.[6] The report maps 117 organizations in the UK’s anti-rights ecosystem, finding over 60% have emerged since 2017 and that 37 of them spent over £144 million between 2019 and 2024.
ADF has substantial funding from US conservative foundations and donors, including documented donations from the fossil fuel industry.[1:1]
Shell USA Company Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the oil and gas multinational, donated $58,002 to ADF between 2013 and 2022.[7] Shell plc is a British-Dutch multinational headquartered in London — meaning international oil money is flowing into US anti-trans litigation.
Shell USA is the American subsidiary of Shell plc, and its foundation is funded by the US operations, but the ultimate corporate parent is a foreign entity with global operations. This illustrates how the anti-trans movement draws funding from multinational corporate interests, not just domestic donors.
Billionaire fossil fuel magnate Phil Anschutz, through his Anschutz Family Foundation, donated $110,000 to ADF between 2011 and 2013.[4:1] Anschutz made his fortune in oil and gas and is tied to at least nine other anti-trans entities.
A 2023 independent analysis of 45 right-wing groups advocating against trans rights found that 80% have received donations from fossil fuel companies or billionaires, illustrating how oil and gas money flows through the entire anti-trans movement infrastructure.[7:1]
ADF has: [1:2]
Mother Jones: Inside the Secret Working Group That Helped Push Anti-Trans Laws Across the Country ↩︎ ↩︎
Amnesty International UK — Report: A growing threat – the anti-rights movement in the UK (July 2026) ↩︎
Atmos/HEATED — Fossil Fuel Billionaires Are Bankrolling the Anti-Trans Movement (June 2025) (1 row) (1 row) ↩︎ ↩︎