Courage is a Habit
This content was last updated April 15, 2024, 1:56 p.m. UTC
Courage is a Habit (CiH) is a conservative advocacy organization founded by Alvin Lui in 2022 in order to oppose “gender ideology” and “critical race theory.” The organization made headlines in the same year it was founded as a result of revealing that school counselors are instructed to be supportive of trans kids.
The main source of advocacy from the organization currently is its opposition to safe state bills in Maine, which would guarantee Maine as a haven for transgender care for those fleeing from other states.
To every gaslighting, dishonest, bad faith, goalpost-moving Transgender Child Mutilation Advocate, not a SINGLE ONE of you cowards can ever do it live. (The excuses are hilarious though, we must admit).
You’re all talk. You know what would happen to you live.
Any time.
Founding
Courage is a Habit was founded in March 2022 by Alvin Lui. It was allegedly made in response to Lui leaving California for the midwest, only to find the same ‘ideology’ he was hoping to escape.
The organization was founded as a non-profit in May of 2023, being listed by ProPublica as from Noblesville, Indiana.
Finances
Not much is known about CiH’s finances, as they are not yet publicly available on ProPublica. What is currently available to the public is their donation page, which is likely their main source of funding, and that they advertise donations to them as being tax deductible. Any additional information is not currently available.
History of Anti-LGBTQ+ Activism
The main source of advocacy for Courage is a Habit involves sharing graphics on social media that they then repost to their website. This includes graphics that call transgender people “Child Mutilation Advocates,” graphics that refer to the ‘brainwashing’ in schools, and graphics that aim to reveal how school counselors are instructed to be supportive of queer kids. These latter claims caused them to make headlines among right wing outlets in 2022.
These graphics and other social media posts have been going viral in the right-wing sphere since 2022.
They additionally share many anti-trans resources on their site, including outlets like the Heritage Foundation or Genspect.
The organization has been positively cited by outlets like the Epoch Times and the Family Research Council. Alvin Lui, representing the organization, has appeared on numerous right wing podcasts, such as Maine Wire, Family Policy Matters, and the Riley Gaines podcast Gaines for Girls.
Lui testified on behalf of CiH in opposition to an Oregon conversion therapy ban bill known as HB2458. This testimony referred to transgender people as being part of “a cult,” contained numerous typos, and relied on Google Trends data to prove the ‘trend’ of being transgender.
Maine Advocacy
One of CiH’s most notable forms of advocacy is the work they did opposing safe state bills in Maine. In particular, LD 1735, would have made Maine a safe state for trans people fleeing from other states, ensuring that they would be able to access care in the state.
CiH was among the vocal organizations opposing this bill, which was killed in committee. The group appears to take some credit for taking the bill down, although it is unknown what role they played exactly in opposing it.
They are now similarly opposing LD 227, dubbing it - just as they did LD 1735 - a ‘transgender trafficking bill.’ They have prepared a template for people to email legislators to oppose the bill.