American Family Association
The American Family Association (AFA) is a conservative and Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.[3][4][5][6][7] It opposes LGBT rights and expression, pornography, and abortion.[8][9] It also takes a position on a variety of other public policy goals. It was founded in 1977 by Donald Wildmon as the National Federation for Decency and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Not to be confused with American Family Foundation.Founded
1977
64-0607275 (EIN)
Advocacy of Protestant fundamentalism in the U.S.
United States
Boycotts
Tim Wildmon, President[1]
$21,342,355[2] (2020)
Part of the religious right,[10] the AFA defined itself as "a Christian organization promoting the biblical ethic of decency in American society with primary emphasis on television and other media," later switching their stated emphasis to "moral issues that impact the family."[11][12][13] It engages in activism efforts, including boycotts, buycotts, action alert emails, publications on the AFA's web sites or in the AFA Journal, broadcasts on American Family Radio, and lobbying.[14] The organization is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and posted a 2011 budget of over $16 million.[15] AFA owns 200 American Family Radio stations in 33 states, seven affiliate stations in seven states, and one affiliate TV station (KAZQ) in New Mexico.[16][17]
AFA has been listed as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)[10] since November 2010 for the "propagation of known falsehoods" and the use of "demonizing propaganda" against LGBT people.[18]
Operations[edit]
Reverend Donald Wildmon served as chairman of AFA until he announced his retirement on March 3, 2010. His son, Tim, is president of AFA. AFA is governed by an independent board of directors.
AFA Journal is a monthly publication with a circulation of 180,000[19] containing news, features, columns, and interviews. In addition to the publication, AFA Journal articles are made available online. The journal reviews the content of prime-time television shows, categorizing them based on profanity, sex, violence, homosexuality, substance abuse, "anti-Christian" content, or "political correctness". The categorization is accompanied by short descriptions of the content of the episode under review. The review also lists the advertisers of each show and invites readers to contact the advertisers or television networks to express concern over program content.[20]
American Family Radio (AFR) is a network of approximately 200 AFA-owned radio stations broadcasting Christian-oriented programming.[7]
OneNewsNow.com (formerly AgapePress), the AFA news division, provides online audio newscasts and a daily digest of news articles, Associated Press stories, and opinion columns.[21]
Center for Law and Policy, the legal and political arm of the AFA, was shut down in 2007. It specialized in First Amendment cases. The Center for Law and Policy lobbied legislative bodies, drafted legislation, and filed religious-discrimination lawsuits on behalf of individuals.[17] Chief among its efforts were the recognition of Christmas in seasonal print advertisements; the criminalization of homosexuality;[22][23][24] lobbying against same-sex marriage, and in opposition of equal-rights and hate-crime legislation that would include sexual orientation and gender identity under categories already protected[25][26][27] and advocating censorship of television programming.[28]