Prominent right-wing leader advocated for conversion therapy & biblical law

It has recently come to light that the executive director of a prominent right-wing non-profit once wrote blog posts for a hate group in support of conversion therapy and biblical supremacy.

Mark Trammell currently leads the Center for American Liberty – which has repeatedly filed lawsuits targeting trans rights – but in 2013 and 2014, he wrote a series of blog posts for the Southern Poverty Law Center designated hate group, Liberty Counsel.

Related:

Attacks on queer & trans rights are a dire sign for democracy

Conservatives aren’t just attacking LGBTQ+ rights. They’re attacking human rights and workers’ rights.

The Guardian recently obtained the now-deleted posts, in which Trammell claimed conversion therapy bans for minors are “aimed at silencing Christian views on human sexuality.”

LGBTQ+ news you can rely on

Keep track of the ongoing battle against bias and for equality with our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

Major health and mental health organizations oppose conversion therapy, which describes a set of techniques that practitioners promise will turn gay and bi people straight and trans and nonbinary people cis. Conversion therapy is based on the idea that LGBTQ+ identity is a problem to be fixed, which can lead to long-term damage to victims’ self-esteem. A 2013 survey showed that 84 percent of former patients of conversion therapy said it inflicted lasting shame and emotional harm, and another study found that LGBTQ+ people who were forced into conversion therapy had an attempted suicide rate five times above normal.

The posts also reveal Trammell essentially arguing against the separation of church and state, saying that biblical law (or as he called it, “Natural Law”) takes precedence over secular law.

When arguing against states’ rights to legalize same-sex marriage at the state level, Trammell wrote that “as a component of the Natural Law, authored by God, the institution of marriage is beyond the ability of mankind to change. Simply put, it is a law given to us by God and since God’s ways are justice and His ways are higher than our ways.”

“For one to state that the Tenth Amendment reserves the authority for states to define marriage according to the will of the citizens of that state is to say that the Constitution had authority over the Natural Law,” Trammell also said. “Such a conclusion is contrary to the essence of the Natural Law and is contrary to Scripture.”

Trammell wrote these posts and others for Liberty Counsel while working for a nonprofit called Libert Counsel Action, which is affiliated with Liberty Counsel.

The Liberty Counsel has long represented bigoted clients who use the guise of “religious liberty” to oppose any expansion of LGBTQ+ civil rights. The Center for American Liberty, where Trammell currently works, is also a fierce defender of religious liberties and has targeted the trans community in its lawsuits as of late. In fact, the cover photo on its website currently depicts Chloe Cole, an anti-trans activist who de-transitioned after undergoing gender-affirming care as a child. The Center for American Liberty is currently suing Cole’s doctors on her behalf.

Center for American Liberty’s founder & CEO, Harmeet Dhillon, has also been accused of shady dealings between the organization and her law firm, as well as for taking a $120,000 salary from the non-profit for a two-hour work week.

Trammell has also worked as in-house counsel for the right-wing Young America’s Foundation, and also as an adjunct professor at the evangelical Liberty University, one of the most notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ schools in the country. Trammell also went to the Liberty University School of Law.

Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you need to talk to someone now, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. It’s staffed by trans people, for trans people. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.