Family Policy Alliance

Family Policy Alliance (FPA), formerly CitizenLink and Focus on the Family Action, is an American conservative Christian organization that acts as the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family at the level of state government politics. It is an umbrella organization for an "alliance" of state organizations known as Family Policy Councils which are state-level Focus on the Family affiliates.

The stated mission of Family Policy Alliance is "to advance biblical citizenship, equip and elect statesmen, promote policy and serve an effective alliance, all committed to a common vision". The organization opposes and advocates against same-sex marriage, transgender rights, legal abortion, sexual consent education, marijuana decriminalization, and the Equal Rights Amendment. CEO Craig DeRoche considers these social phenomena "a demonic onslaught" which he attributes to Satan. FPA supports Reaganomics and traditional gender roles. It considers LGBT rights to be a dangerous "LGBT agenda."

As an organization with 501(c)(4) tax status, FPA faces fewer political lobbying restrictions than its affiliate Focus on the Family. FPA lobbying includes "rigorous training by experienced Christian legislative leaders" for politicians who align with the organization's conservative priorities. The organization maintains a 501(c)(3) called Family Policy Foundation or alternatively Family Policy Alliance Foundation. It is a different organization than The Family Foundation, although both are a part of Focus on the Family and have similar goals.

It was founded in 2004 by James Dobson and operates from Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs.

The alliance of lobbying groups that FPA currently coordinates was built by James Dobson, a Southern California psychologist and evangelical Christian radio broadcaster, beginning in the 1980s. Dobson is the founder of Focus on the Family, which described the alliance-building as a "behind-the-scenes" program to affect legislation and culture without appearing to be coordinated. According to The United Methodist Reporter members were urged to keep the existence of the alliance a secret so that they would appear to be diversity of different groups, rather than a coordinated effort. The members of this alliance became known as Family Policy Councils.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Focus on the Family and its state-level Family Policy Councils were associated with highly visible culture wars, including strong opposition to legal abortion and same-sex marriage. The alliance was unable to maintain its secrecy and became more widely known in the 1990s. The organization Family Policy Alliance has operated since 2004, coordinating the state Family Policy Council organizations. It shares Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters building.

In 2017, FPA filed an amicus brief jointly with Women's Liberation Front, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist organization, to the US Supreme Court. The brief, in opposition to a lower court ruling for a transgender student, stated "pro-family Christians and radical feminists may not agree about much, but they agree that redefining "sex" to mean "gender identity" is a truly fundamental shift in American law and society." The head of FPA Kansas called this partnership "co-belligerence with strange bedfellows."

At the time of the Trump–Raffensperger phone call, FPA of Georgia sent a fundraising email in support of Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the US presidential election. The group's executive director, Cole Muzio, expressed concern that Georgia has become more liberal and that the church in Georgia has become weaker. Muzio says that these demographic trends are a form of "cheating" in elections, requiring FPA to respond by advocating for election laws favoring conservative Christians.