Mission: America is an American

Christian right The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...

organization based in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and founded in 1995 that seeks to "cover the latest cultural and social trends in our country and what they might mean for Christians." The organization publishes articles on its web site about its views on

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

. Mission: America's founder and president, Linda Harvey, is an outspoken critic of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

, including

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. The

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

designated Mission: America as an active anti-gay

hate group A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race (human classification), race, Ethnic group, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any o ...

in March 2012 based on its particular anti-LGBT rights stances.

History

According to founder Linda Harvey, Mission: America was founded with the objective of equipping "Christians with current, accurate information about cultural issues such as

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, homosexuality, education and

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

influences." Harvey is a radio talk show host on

WRFD WRFD (880 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to both Columbus and Worthington, Ohio. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. WRFD and sister station WTOH 98.9 FM share studi ...

in Columbus, and also writes commentary for

WorldNetDaily ''WND'' (formerly ''WorldNetDaily'') is an American far-right fake news website. It is known for promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories, including the false claim that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. T ...

. In January 2008, she authored ''Not My Child; Contemporary Paganism & New Spirituality''. The book discusses the author's view that "casual

occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

permeates youth culture" and suggests tips for parents as well as classroom lessons. The group's "School Risk Audit" program was conducted jointly by Mission America, the

American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.

Concerned Women for America Concerned Women for America (CWA) is a socially conservative, evangelical Christian non-profit women's legislative action committee in the United States. Headquartered in Washington D.C., the CWA is involved in social and political movements, t ...

, the

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

, and other groups. It was launched in April 2006. Its stated purpose is to assess what it sees as schools' promotion of homosexuality such as anti-

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

programs that include acceptance of different

sexual orientations Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally s ...

, and non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. The plan has received support from Exodus Mandate, an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian group supporting

home-schooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

. In March 2012, the

designated Mission America as an active anti-gay hate group. The group has denied this characterization. Mission America had previously launched a campaign to get the website "Prop 8 Maps" listed by the SPLC as a hate group.

Positions

According to Mission America, the organization promotes "Biblical morality", though e-mail, videos and its website, seeking to reach American Christians. A major issue for the organization is what they refer to as the "burgeoning and increasingly fascist 'gay rights' movement".

Literary views

Harvey criticized author Alex Sanchez' novel ''

Rainbow Boys ''Rainbow Boys'' is the first novel in a trilogy by Alex Sánchez, focusing on the issues gay and questioning youth face as they come of age. This book is followed by '' Rainbow High'' and ''Rainbow Road''. Plot summary The story follows the ...

'' in her 2002 essay "The World According to

PFLAG PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to ...

: Why PFLAG and Children Don't Mix Unless You Happen to Like Child Abuse". After

JK Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, author of the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series, revealed that she always thought of the character

Albus Dumbledore Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. As part of his backstory, it is revealed that he is ...

as being homosexual,

LGBT rights

In March 2018, Harvey says homosexuality is God's punishment for abortion. In speaking against the Equality Act in December 2015, Harvey said that endorsing LGBT equality measures is "the least compassionate, the meanest and most hateful thing you can do" because it will cause more people to think it's okay to be LGBT. In 2011, Harvey said that gay rights advocates were "masters of demonic manipulation" while speaking as a guest on

Peter LaBarbera Peter LaBarbera (born 1963) is an American social conservative activist and the president of the anti-gay organization Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH). LaBarbera has been criticized for spreading hate speech and misinformation ...

's radio program. She has also referred to the ''

It Gets Better It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * ''It!'' (1967 f ...

'' video project as "wrong, it's evil, it's dark". In that same broadcast, she referred to LaBarbera as her "good friend". LaBarbera heads the organization

Americans for Truth about Homosexuality Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) is an organization which describes its mission as "exposing the homosexual activist agenda". AFTAH rejects the idea that sexual orientation is innate and believes that people can "leave the homosex ...

. Harvey opposes efforts to decriminalize homosexuality in Jamaica, promoting a petition that declares Caribbean societies are "under attack" from gay rights supporters. She describes LGBT anti-discrimination orders as "anti-Christian gag orders" whose goal is to "criminalize speech and Christian faith." In August 2011, Harvey stated on her weekend radio show that "There is no proof that there's ever anything like a gay,

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

ed child, or teen or human," and that openly gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools.Right Wing Watch, August 8, 2011
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References

External links