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United Families International |
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Nonprofit
organization founded in 1978 by Susan Roylance. UFI
works on an international scale to influence public
policy toward "maintaining and strengthening the
family". UFI has NGO status with ECOSOC and works to
spread their opinion to United Nations (UN)
ambassadors and delegates on family related issues.
UFI also operates a website, DefendMarriage.org.
They are listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
as an anti-gay hate group but are supported
by and in agreement with significant portions of the
Christian conservative coalition. |
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United Families
International (UFI) |
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"Based in Gilbert,
Arizona, United
Families
International has
its roots in two
separate
organizations
founded in 1978 by
longtime activists
Susan Roylance ,
(currently on the
board of World
Congress of
Families) and Jan
Clark. By 1983 the
two organizations
merged to become
United Families of
America. The name
changed in 1995 as
the organization
expanded its focus
outside the United
States to combat
perceived threats to
the “natural
family""
(“fundamental social
unit of society,”
describes a family
unit as one that is
centered on “the
voluntary union of a
man and a woman in a
lifelong covenant of
marriage.”) |
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Those threats,
according to UFI,
include pornography,
“explicit” sex
education programs (UFI
promotes “abstinence
only”), and
“homosexual
activism.” UFI also
opposes abortion and
feminism (it fears
feminism eliminates
gender), and worked
against the
ratification of the
Convention for the
Elimination of All
Forms of
Discrimination
Against Women in
2008. UFI is
extremely active at
the United Nations,
where it holds
consultative status
with the Economic
and Social Counsel.
It has sent teams to
major UN conferences
and has represented
itself around the
world, where it
claims it is
“working to educate
delegates from many
countries on the
issues affecting
families.” |
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On its website, UFI
provides
“educational
materials,” like its
35-page report on
sexual orientation
that claims
differing sexual
orientations are
“developmental
disorders” that can
be “prevented or
successfully
treated.” The report
provides a litany of
damaging falsehoods
about homosexuality,
including such
claims as
“pedophilia is
widespread among the
homosexual
community;” that gay
people are a danger
to children and
should not be
allowed to adopt;
that gay people
experience “high
rates of
promiscuity;” and
that homosexuality
is “destructive” to
society." |
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Oct. 21, 2015 |
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Susan Roylance: UFI
Says Same-Sex
Marriage Is Not
Inevitable |
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Aug. 29, 2013 |
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Andy Biggs, Other Politicos Tied To Gilbert Religious Group Labeled As Anti-Gay "Hate Group" By Southern Poverty Law Center |
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"United Families International
is one of 26 "active anti-gay groups" listed by the
Southern Poverty Law Center, alongside
Faithful Word Baptist Church -- the Tempe church
with the pastor who says "the government should put
[homosexuals] to death" -- and Fred Phelps'
world-famous Westboro Baptist Church." |
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Mar. 9, 2012 |
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Newly Designated Anti-Gay Hate Groups Earned That Distinction |
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Mar. 9, 2012 |
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