United Families International

United Families International (UFI) is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1978 by Susan Roylance.[1][2] 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.[5] UFI also operates a website, DefendMarriage.org.[6] They are listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as an anti-gay hate group.[7][8][9] but are supported by and in agreement with significant portions of the Christian conservative coalition.[10][11]

United Families International
Founded1978 (1978)
FounderSusan Roylance[1][2]
TypePublic charity 501(c)(3)
57-0658997[3] (EIN))
Location
Area served
International
Members
7
OwnerUnited Families Foundation
Key people
Carol Soelberg, President
Phil Marriott, Chairman
Revenue
$54,791 (2010)[4]
Websiteunitedfamilies.org

History

United Families International was founded in 1978 by Susan Roylance[1][2] of Washington state and Jan Clark of South Carolina.[12] The group actively promotes what it believes are "traditional family values" internationally, nationally and locally.

UFI under Roylance was actively involved in promoting "traditional family values" at the Beijing Conference in the mid 1990s. Roylance characterized the conference as a "wakeup call for those who believe the traditional family unit to be an important basic unit of society".[10]

The organization received ECOSOC accreditation[11]: xxxi  and participated in the World Congress of Families II Conference in Switzerland in 1999.[11]: 82  UFI has brought its platform to international organizations, including the UN in 2002, at which it joined more than 300 activists in urging diplomats to "reaffirm marriage and promote sexual abstinence among teen-agers." Sharon Slater, UFI's president at the time asked UN diplomats "to ensure that religions are respected and protected in U.N. documents, insofar as they respect the family and the dignity of the human person".[13]

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) first designated United Families International as an anti-gay hate group in 2012.[7][8][9]

Issues

Political involvement

UFI, considered by some to be part of the Christian right and a Mormon organization,[10][11] is connected with several politicians in Arizona. Republican U.S. Representative Andy Biggs is the former policy advisor to UFI and his wife Cindy is the secretary and treasurer of the organization. Republican state Representative Cecil Ash and his wife are also affiliated with the organization.[9][14]

In 2006, UFI contributed $50,000 in support of Arizona Proposition 107, the Protect Marriage Arizona initiative, a proposed same-sex marriage ban that was ultimately defeated.[15]

Homosexuality

In their Guide to Family Issues UFI makes a number of claims about homosexuality, including[16]

  • "Discrimination on the basis of gender or race is vastly different from discrimination on the basis of sexual practice."
  • "Pedophilia is widespread among the homosexual community."
  • "Reputable studies and decades of successful treatment show that homosexual behavior can be changed."
  • "It is not marriage, but women in marriage, that help to contain and channel the male sexual appetite."
  • "In fact it is more compassionate to discourage homosexuality than to tolerate it."

See also

References
  1. Soelberg, Carol (March 5, 2008). "UFI Marks 30 Years of Defending Marriage and Family". United Families International. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  2. "Susan Roylance". The Howard Center. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  3. "Nonprofit Report for United Families Foundation". GuideStar. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  4. "2010 IRS Form 990 Federal Tax Return". Foundation Center. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  5. "UFI Overview". United Families International. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  6. "Overview of Defend Marriage". United Families International. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  7. "Hate Map". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  8. Towle, Andy (March 8, 2012). "Southern Poverty Law Center Designates 11 New Anti-Gay Hate Groups in Report on Rise of Extremism". Towleroad. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  9. Hendley, Matthew (March 9, 2012). "Andy Biggs, Other Politicos Tied to Gilbert Religious Group Labeled as Anti-Gay "Hate Group" by Southern Poverty Law Center". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  10. Tétreault, Mary Ann; Denemark, Robert A. (2004). Gods, Guns, and Globalization: Religious Radicalism and International Political Economy. Lynne Rienner Pub. p. 63. ISBN 978-1588262530.
  11. Buss, Doris; Herman, Didi (2003). Globalizing Family Values: The Christian Right in International Politics. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0816642083.
  12. Beginnings and History. United Families International. January 30, 2009.
  13. Archibald, George (May 5, 2002). "Diplomats urged to back families, teen abstinence; Uganda's first lady says the United Nations can fight AIDS without undermining morality". The Washington Times.
  14. Ash, Cecil. "About Cecil". Cecil Ash. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  15. Welch, Dennis (November 3, 2006). "ELECTION 2006: Home stretch in Senate race". The Tribune. Mesa, AZ. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  16. "Guide to Family Issues" (PDF). United Families International. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
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