Louisiana Family Forum (LFF) is a social conservative non-profit group based in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the county seat, parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, E ...

. The organization supports Louisiana's

covenant marriage Covenant marriage is a legally distinct kind of marriage in three states (Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana) of the United States, in which the marrying spouses agree to obtain pre-marital counseling and accept more limited grounds for later seeking ...

law and opposes

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

and same-sex marriage. The group's stated mission is to "persuasively present

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking." According to its website the group "maintains a close working relationship with

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations ...

and

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 is part of a network of individual state Family Policy Councils.

History

Louisiana Family Forum was founded in Baton Rouge in 1998 by a group of citizens, including retired City Court Judge Darrell White, former

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United S ...

Tony Perkins, and LSU law professor Katherine Spaht. The organization is currently headed by Executive Director Gene Mills, while Judge White and former

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of ...

Dan Richey serve as consultants. Louisiana Family Forum is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

tax-exempt Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The Family Forum honors a Louisiana state legislator each year for the member's advocacy of moral principles and family values.

Political advocacy

Louisiana Family Forum Action (LFF Action), is a

501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...

advocacy group formed by LFF. Dan Richey, who holds the title of Grassroots Coordinator for LFF Action, joined the organization as a consultant in 2005. Prior to his work with LFF Action, Richey was a paid consultant in David Vitter's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign. Records show that Vitter's campaign employed Beryl Amedee of

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be compose ...

Terrebonne Parish Terrebonne Parish ( ; French: ''Paroisse de Terrebonne'') is a parish located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 111,860, and 110,461 in 2019. In 2020, its population declined to 109,5 ...

, then the LFF Education Resource Council chairman and currently the District 51 Republican member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 rep ...

. In 2007, Amedee was named LFF education chairman.

2007 earmark

In September 2007, U.S. Senator Vitter earmarked $100,000 in a health and education financing bill for fiscal year 2008; the earmark specifies payment to the Louisiana Family Forum "to develop a plan to promote better science education." This received national attention and was later cut from the bill after Vitter yielded to opposing political pressure.{{cite web, date=October 19, 2007 , url=http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14359&IssueID=48 , title=Senator Cuts $100,000 From Religious Group , publisher= The Pew Forum , accessdate=2007-11-06 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306060322/http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14359 , archivedate=March 6, 2008

References

External links

Official website
Political organizations based in the United States Politics of Louisiana Non-profit organizations based in Louisiana 501(c)(3) organizations Conservative organizations in the United States