Women's Liberation Front
This content was last updated Oct. 4, 2023, 12:23 a.m. UTC
Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that opposes transgender rights and gender identity legislation through litigation and public activism. They identify themselves as a radical feminist group, despite working alongside anti-abortion conservative group the Heritage Foundation and having representatives of the group appear on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s far-right Fox News show.
If sex is construed to mean gender identity ... nearly all sex-segregated spaces, colleges, sports, dormitories, and women's rights in general, will utterly disappear ... [it] is an unmitigated disaster for women and girls. It means, effectively, that women and girls will no longer exist as a coherent category worthy of civil rights protection.
Kara Dansky of WoLF, panel speaker at The Heritage Foundation, 28 Jan 2019
Founding
WoLF filed for incorporation in the state of New Mexico on August 5th, 2016, with offices in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and a mailing address in Washington, D.C. They received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status on February 28th, 2018.
According to their articles of incorporation in New Mexico, WoLF lists their key members as Chair Lierre Keith, Executive Director Mahri Irvine, President and Director Kacie Moon, Secretary and Director Liz Fedak, Treasurer and Director Beth Lowe and Treasurer Charlotte Mountain. They list Mary Lou Singleton as their incorporator.
Despite naming Keith as WoLF’s chair and listing her as their founder on their website, she does not appear on their 2019 Form 990.
Finances
In 2019, WoLF reported a total revenue of $58,613, of which $57,073 came from donations or grants. They did not disclose the names of their donors on their attached Schedule B. Their stated mission was to "engage in advocacy and education to protect and restore the rights of women and girls," and to that end they claim to have distributed education materials and engaged in legal advocacy. They listed their officers at the time as Kara Dansky, Natasha Chart, Jennifer Chavez, Kacie Mills, Charlotte Mountain and Marian Rutigliano. Dansky and Chart reported working 40 hours weekly on average for WoLF, and Dansky listed $420 in reportable compensation for that work.
WoLF’s 2020 Form 990 reported a total revenue of $263,901, a 450% increase from 2019. $250,804 of their total revenue is attributed to contributions and grants. Again, WoLF did not disclose the names of their donors on their attached Schedule B. 2020’s 990 is the first time Keith appears on WoLF’s tax forms, listed as Treasurer alongside Secretary Kacie Mills, Executive Director Natasha Chart, and Board Members April Halley and Charlotte Mountain. The officers did not disclose an average number of working hours for 2020, but claimed reportable compensation in the form of $3,730 for Mills and $1,500 for Chart.
WoLF’s 2021 Form 990 reported a total revenue of $790,594, a 300% increase from 2020. They report $791,394 in contributions and grants, and a loss of $929 in “other revenue.” As before, they did not list any donors on their attached Schedule B, but they did list a $6,065 transaction to Secretary Kacie Moon for “graphic design services.” They listed their officers at the time as Executive Directors Mahri Irvine and Natasha Chart, Secretary Kacie Moon, Board Member April Halley, President Lierre Keith, and Treasurer Charlotte Mountain. Irvine and Chart reported working an average of forty hours a week for WoLF, and were compensated $23,035 and $19,067 respectively.
History of Anti-LGBTQ+ Activism
WoLF’s most prevalent form of anti-transgender activism is the filing of amicus briefs in anti-transgender court cases.
On May 14th, 2017, WoLF filed a brief alongside Christian advocacy group Family Policy Alliance (FPA) in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, a case brought against Virginia’s Gloucester County School Board by Gavin Grimm for discriminating against him as a transgender student. WoLF and the FPA argued that the Civil Rights Act’s Title IX provided no basis for extending protection to transgender students, and that including gender identity in protective laws would be a public safety concern for cisgender women. In June of 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear an appeal to Grimm’s case, allowing lower courts’ decisions in his favor to stand. As a result, Gloucester County School Board was required to pay Grimm $1.3 million dollars.
On December 18th, 2018, WoLF filed a brief in the Supreme Court case Doe v. Boyertown Area School District, in which an anonymous student filed suit against a transgender classmate for using the correct restroom. On May 28th, 2019, the Supreme Court declined to take action on the case, allowing Boyertown to continue treating transgender students as equal to their peers.
On December 27th, 2018, WoLF filed a brief in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals case Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County, Florida. As in Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, Drew Adams was litigating against his county school board for discriminating against him as a transgender student. WoLF used the same arguments as before, but added an explicit argument that civil rights protections of any kind should not apply to transgender people. In August of 2020, an Eleventh Circuit Court upheld the July 2018 ruling that Adams’ school cannot discriminate against him.
In August of 2019, WoLF filed a brief in Supreme Court case R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC & Aimee Stephens. In June of 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that Stephens’ firing was discriminatory. In December of 2020, G.R. Harris Funeral Homes was ordered to pay a settlement of $250,000 to Stephens’ estate, as she had passed away earlier that year.
On November 19th, 2020, WoLF filed a brief in the Idaho District Court case Hecox v. Little, in which transgender college student Lindsey Hecox sued Governor Brad Little over HB 500, a state bill that banned all transgender students from participating in school athletics.
On October 29th, 2021, WoLF filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case Green v. Miss USA, in which a transgender woman sued to participate in a Miss United States of America pageant. Miss USA’s decision to bar Green from participating was upheld as an example of free speech protected by the First Amendment.
On November 19th, 2021, WoLF filed a brief in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case Brandt et. al. v. Rutledge et. al., in which four families of transgender youth challenged HB 1570, which prohibits Arkansas medical professionals from providing healthcare for transgender youth.
On May 26th, 2022, WoLF filed a brief in the Supreme Court case Vlaming v. West Point School District, in which a French language teacher was fired for refusing to use the correct pronouns for a transgender student.
On September 13th, 2022, WoLF coauthored a brief alongside evangelist Christian lobbying group Concerned Women for America (CWA) in the Indiana District Court case A.M. v. Indiana Public Schools, in which a ten year old transgender girl was barred from participating in sports by Indiana House Enrolled Act 1041.
On February 2nd, 2023, WoLF filed a brief in Tennessee v. Department of Education, in which the state of Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers litigated against the United States Board of Education to restrict transgender people from receiving legal protection from discrimination.
In March of 2023, WoLF filed a brief in Supreme Court case B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, in which the West Virginia’s Board of Education attempted to ban a 12-year-old girl from cheerleading and cross-country running. In April of 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that the state Board of Education could not discriminate against transgender students.
In May of 2023, WoLF filed a brief in Supreme Court case Tingley v. Ferguson, in which a Washington family counselor challenged a state bill to ban conversion therapy.