Last week Wisconsin Family Action Federal Political Action Committee (PAC) endorsed Donald J. Trump for President of the United States.
“During his first term in office, President Donald Trump has shown that his campaign promises were more than empty rhetoric," says Julaine Appling, director of WFA Fed PAC. "Time and again President Trump has taken action on issues of paramount importance to our organization and to the tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens who engage with us.
“In his policies, President Trump has kept his promises to defend innocent human life; restore and respect religious freedom; promote school choice; befriend and defend Israel; cut taxes; improve the nation’s overall economic position; deregulate businesses; and in general make America great again both at home and abroad."
The full press release of this endorsement may be found
HERE.
Madison Schools Sued for Violating Parental Rights
Once again, parental rights in Wisconsin are being challenged.
"The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), on behalf of a group of Madison parents, filed a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court against the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) for adopting and implementing policies that violate the rights of district parents. The challenged MMSD policies enable children, of any age, to change their gender identity at school without parental notice or consent, and instruct district employees to conceal and even deceive parents about the gender identity their son or daughter has adopted at school. These policies violate critical constitutionally recognized parental rights.
WILL represents 14 individual parents from 8 families with students in MMSD." Read more about this case from Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
HERE.
WILL President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg said, “Madison schools have adopted policies that violate constitutionally recognized parental rights. A public school district should not, and cannot, make decisions reserved for parents.”
The first hearing in this case took place this past Tuesday, May 26, in Branch 8 of Dane County Circuit Court. During the hearing, the judge ordered that the parents' names must be revealed to the court and to any and all attorneys involved. The case had been filed with all parents' names kept anonymous. The WILL attorneys representing the parents will now need to either appeal the judge's decision on anonymity to the appellate court or check with the parents to see who is willing to remain on the case under this order of limited disclosure. WILL Attorney Luke Berg, representing the parents, repeatedly told the court that the more people who know who the parents are increases the likelihood of those names being leaked, which could have very negative consequences for the parents and their children. The judge responded saying he was confident the attorneys would respect the confidentiality. (WFA will refrain from editorial comment here.)
Also in the Tuesday hearing, the court denied the school district's motion to dismiss the case entirely, which is definitely a win for the parents and their children. They and the unconstitutional policy will have their day in court.
A decided twist in the case is that the judge also allowed ACLU of Wisconsin to have "intervener" status in this case, which basically makes the ACLU and the groups it represents another party to the case. The ACLU is representing three LGBTQ student groups at three (3) different Madison schools—the Gender Equity Association at Memorial High School, the Gender Sexuality Alliance at West High School and the Gender Sexuality Alliance at La Follette High School. The judge agreed that the "rights" and "interests" of these students were not adequately represented by the school district and thus permitted them to participate fully, just like another defendant, in the case.
Wisconsin Family Action will keep you updated on this issue.
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Wisconsin Family Action is your voice for families in your community, in the state and in the legislature. Click HERE to partner with us securely today!
To Mail or Not To Mail—BALLOTS?
That is the question.
"Due in large part to COVID-19, in Wisconsin’s election last month, a record number of absentee ballots were requested. Over 1.3 million absentee ballots were mailed to Wisconsin voters, with nearly 1,160,000 or just about 90 percent of those requested being returned.
"These absentee ballots represented about 75 percent of the total ballots cast in this most recent election. For some comparisons, in the spring 2019 election, about 167,000 absentee ballots were requested, with just over 146,000 of them returned, which was about 12 percent of the total votes cast.
"If we go back to fall of 2016, with a presidential election, 845,000 absentee ballots were requested with 97 percent of those being returned and counted, accounting for a little over 27 percent of the total ballots cast."
"Obviously, with this past election, we experienced a seismic shift in how we vote in Wisconsin. Before we explore this more and talk about what elections might look like moving forward in Wisconsin, let’s clarify the current options for voting in the Badger State."
Read more about absentee voting and the future of Wisconsin's elections HERE in this week's "Wisconsin Family Connection."
If you haven't already registered to vote, CLICK HERE.
If you want future ballots send to you in the mail, CLICK HERE. Many things can interfere with voting in person such as illness, unforeseen family emergencies, unavoidable travel, and more as we have experienced this spring. Voting absentee ensures your voice is heard no matter what comes your way. Absentee ballots can also be returned in person to the clerk's office in addition to being returned by mail.
NEW! LEAD WI goes VIRTUAL
This is NOT your average summer camp!
Due to the COVID-19 situation, LEAD Wisconsin is making some changes to the camp format that will allow for safe and easy participation as well as a greatly reduced cost.
Because of these new changes, Wisconsin Family Council is excited to announce......LEAD Online, a new hybrid program that will take place through an online, interactive format. LEAD WI is partnering with LEAD Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa to bring this engaging camp to you! This allows us to continue our mission to empower the next generation of leaders even though we cannot meet in person.
LEAD WI will continue to engage students through dynamic biblical worldview instruction and practical leadership training.
The NEW registration fee and dates for LEAD Online are:
Ages: 13-19 | Registration Fee: $100
Week 1: June 21-26 | Week 2: July 12-17 | Week 3: July 26-31
CLICK HERE for more information about LEAD WI!
CLICK HERE to register today!
WEEKLY RADIO COMMENTARY. "WISCONSIN FAMILY CONNECTION" - Airing this week on over 20 stations statewide. Read the transcript of this week's commentary HERE. Listen to this week's Wisconsin Family Connection, "To Mail or Not To Mail?" HERE. Subscribe to our podcasts HERE!
ARCHIVED:
Week of May 18, 2020 - Constitutional Rights, Emergencies, & Elections
Week of May 11, 2020 - Memorial Day 2020 – Making It Meaningful One Family at a Time
Week of May 4, 2020 - When Two Isn't Better Than One
"WISCONSIN FAMILY MINUTE" - A daily program for Christian radio stations! Click HERE for our daily program; listen or download! Click HERE to subscribe to your Wisconsin Family Minute podcasts! Find your local station HERE. If the Christian radio station you listen to isn't carrying "Wisconsin Family Minute," please encourage them to do so. Contact us at 866-849-2536 or [email protected].
HOME FRONT - VCY AMERICA
WFC President Julaine Appling hosts VCY America's "Home Front" program every Wednesday afternoon (Sept.-May) at 3:15 p.m. Click HERE to listen to Julaine give a reminder about school choice deadlines, a rundown on yesterday's special election, an overview of this fall's elections, including a discussion of mail-in vs. in-person voting, and an "I-can't-believe-it" story from a court. This is the final Home Front for the season. We hope you will tune in when we return in September! Click HERE to listen to archived episodes. Click HERE to subscribe to future Home Front podcasts!
VCY AMERICA TV30 "InFocus"
Julaine Appling, WFC president, is a regular guest (one Monday per month) on VCY America’s TV 30 "InFocus" live, call-in program with Jim Schneider which airs on Monday evenings from 7:00-8:00 p.m. (Sept. through May). Livestream InFocus HERE. Julaine was most recently on "InFocus" with host Jim Schneider discussing the unconstitutionality of the "Safer at Home" order - watch HERE. Click HERE to watch archived episodes. This is Julaine's last appearance on "InFocus" until September 2020. See you in the fall!
STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH - Q90 FM
Julaine Appling is a regular guest on Q90's "Stand Up for The Truth" program (9-10 a.m., M-F).
CLICK HERE to listen to Julaine on this month's "Stand Up for the Truth" program on Q90fm, hosted by David Fiorazo.
--WFA's president Julaine Appling is available to speak to your group, church, school, civic organization, and other events. Call 
--Dave Lingle, Wisconsin Family Council's Church Ambassador, is available to speak in churches. Call 
