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Concerned Women for America vs. transgender people

Concerned Women for America (CWA) is a conservative American nonprofit legislative action committee that opposes transgender rights, focusing on the areas of transgender youth and transgender athletes.

Background

CWA is a socially conservative evangelical Christian organization that “protects and promotes Biblical values and Constitutional principles through prayer, education, and advocacy.” It was founded in 1978 by Beverly LaHaye in response to the feminist nonprofit National Organization for Women (NOW).

CWA has opposed

  • ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment
  • the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
  • access to reproductive healthcare, especially abortion
  • sex education in public schools
  • teaching of evolution in public schools, instead supporting teaching of “intelligent design”
  • sex outside of marriage
  • marriage equality
  • LGBTQ+ servicemembers
  • pornography
  • sex trafficking and sex work
  • gambling
  • embryonic stem cell research
  • cloning
  • drug use, including needle exchanges
  • secularism
  • births by unmarried people
  • the child-free movement

CWA is an advisory organization to Project 2025, the anti-trans policy prepared in anticipation of a second Donald Trump presidency..

CWA operates the research organizations Beverly LaHaye Institute (BLI) and the Culture and Family Institute (CFI). CWA maintains and educational project called CWA Academy for Conservative Principles (CWAACP). They also run Young Women for America, a project “to educate young female leaders on Biblical and conservative issues,” as well as local chapters and an online influencer program called Women4America.

Anti-transgender projects

CWA focuses on three areas that impact trans and gender diverse people:

  • “Standing with Female Athletes”: attacks transgender athletes
  • “Protecting Vulnerable Children”: attacks trans and gender diverse youth and their healthcare
  • “Erasing Women”: attacks gender-inclusive feminism

Resources

Concerned Women for America (concernedwomen.org)

Beverly LaHaye Institute (beverlylahayeinstitute.org)

Culture & Family Institute (cultureandfamily.org) [archive]

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Vimeo (vimeo.com)