ADF Clients, Attorneys, Testify at White House’s Religious Liberty Commission

The ability to express one’s faith is a core American freedom enshrined in our First Amendment. Yet, in education and public schools, expressions of faith have often been restricted, censored, or punished. From blocking pro-life clubs to censoring campus evangelism, students and parents across the country have faced policies and practices targeting religious freedom. Many, sadly, still are.

But a new commission created by the Trump administration is seeking to directly address religious freedom issues like those currently present in the education system. And Alliance Defending Freedom has been blessed to be given numerous opportunities to speak into the commission’s findings.

Over the course of these hearings, several ADF clients and attorneys have testified before the commission. Their testimonies highlight how everyday acts of faith can become flashpoints in schools and universities and why protecting these rights remains essential.

What is the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission?

On May 1, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission. The commission’s purpose is to “advise the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on religious liberty policies of the United States, including by recommending steps to secure domestic religious liberty and identifying opportunities to further the cause of religious liberty around the world.”

President Trump has rightly recognized that the religious liberty of Christians and other people of faith has repeatedly been violated. Thus, he is seeking to “ensure Americans can freely practice their faith without government interference.”

On May 16, the President created an advisory board for this committee. ADF President, CEO and Chief Counsel Kristen Waggoner was honored to be appointed to the Advisory Board of Legal Experts, while ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker serves on the Advisory Board of Lay Leaders.

At the commission’s first meeting in June, Kristen spoke about the importance of protecting free speech, religious freedom, and objective truth.

Hearing #2: Five ADF Clients Recount How Their Religious Freedom Was Violated

On September 8, the commission held its second hearing. Five ADF clients (Lydia Booth, Jennifer Mead, Maggie DeJong, Chike Uzuegbunam, and Norvilia Etienne Cain) shared their experiences of how their religious freedom had been violated and why government policies must respect and uphold the right to live out one’s faith.

ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of U.S. Litigation David Cortman also explained how religious freedom and parental rights are under attack in American public schools, highlighting ADF clients like Brian Hickman, Sarah and Terry Osborn, Jennifer Vitsaxaki, and Joe and Serena Wailes, among others

Lydia Booth

During the COVID-19 pandemic, third-grader Lydia Booth wore a mask to school that read “Jesus Loves Me” in bright pink letters. Despite other students wearing masks expressing messages with words and logos, including “Black Lives Matter,” school officials forced her to remove her mask. Represented by ADF, Lydia’s family challenged the school’s actions and secured a settlement affirming her First Amendment rights. Now in 8th grade, Lydia says, “Through it all, I learned something I’ll never forget: You’re never too young for your voice to matter.”

Jennifer Mead

Dan and Jennifer Mead discovered that their daughter’s school district had implemented a secret social transition policy, treating their 8^th-grade daughter as a boy without informing them. The school had been doing this for months until the Meads were accidentally sent a partially-altered document about their daughter referring to her by a masculine name and male pronouns. The district policy directly conflicted with the Meads’ religious beliefs and undermined their rights as parents to direct the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their child. The Meads filed a lawsuit to protect their parental rights, religious freedom, and ultimately their daughter—as well as others like her.

Maggie Dejong

Maggie DeJong, a graduate student in the art therapy program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, faced disciplinary action simply for expressing her Christian views during class discussions and on social media. After several classmates complained that her beliefs were offensive, the university issued no-contact orders against her, effectively silencing her. Worse still, the university threatened “disciplinary consequences” if Maggie violated the orders. With ADF’s help, Maggie secured a favorable settlement in which SIUE revised its policies, paid damages and attorney’s fees, and required some professors to participate in First Amendment training.

Chike Uzuegbunam

Chike Uzuegbunam, a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, was stopped from sharing his Christian faith on campus—even after reserving space in the school’s designated “free speech zone.” When he tried to hand out pamphlets and share his faith in Jesus, campus officials ordered him to stop, threatening disciplinary action if he continued. With ADF’s help, Chike filed a lawsuit, determined to stand up for his First Amendment rights. The college then revised its policies and sought to dismiss the lawsuit to try to avoid accountability for violating Chike’s constitutional rights. His case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 8–1 in his favor, setting a nationwide precedent that protects students’ rights to free speech and religious expression.

Norvilia Etienne Cain

In 2017, Norvilia Etienne Cain was a student at Queens College in New York who wanted to establish a Students for Life club on her campus. Despite following all the required steps, the college denied her request, blocking both the club’s registration and the opportunity to receive funding like other student groups. During the registration process, college officials had expressed clear bias against the formation of her club, and the college’s policy gave unchecked power to deny certain student groups based solely on their viewpoint. After an ADF lawsuit, the college agreed to revise its policies and recognize the Students for Life chapter.

Hearing #3: The Importance of Religious Liberty to Religious Schools, Parents, and Families

On September 29, the commission held its third hearing, where ADF Client Monica Gill and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch spoke on religious liberty and the importance of being able to live out religious truths in society.

John Bursch shared how religious schools like The Lyceum, Darren Patterson Christian Academy, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, and others have had their religious liberty threatened when laws jeopardized their ability to hire employees who share their religious beliefs and mission.

John concluded, “Religious liberty should not be a partisan issue. It’s a matter of human dignity, family rights, and national flourishing. Our nation will continue to benefit from generations of young people formed in both in knowledge and virtue if faith-based schools are protected to live out their missions and families are free to choose them.”

Monica Gill

Monica Gill has been a high school government teacher for over thirty years, twenty-one of them in Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. One of her aims in the classroom was to equip young people “not just with facts but with truth; not just for tests but for life. Because if we can root the next generation in truth, we can help them live full and flourishing lives.”

However, in 2021, Monica’s school district instituted a policy that undermined that very mission by forcing teachers to address “gender-expansive or transgender students” in a manner inconsistent with their biological sex. Such a policy would have compelled teachers like Monica to lie to students and embrace an ideology that ultimately could harm them. Thankfully, after achieving victories on behalf of ADF client Peter Vlaming, the Loudoun County Circuit Court officially recognized that the school board no longer interprets its policy to force teachers to violate their religious beliefs by using names and pronouns inconsistent with a student’s sex.

Hearing #4: How Religious Liberty Was Violated in Texas

On December 10, the commission held its fourth hearing in Dallas, Texas, where ADF client Dr. Andrew Fox and pastors from First Baptist Dallas spoke about how their religious freedom was violated.

Dr. Andrew Fox

Dr. Andrew Fox is an ordained minister who helped start Austin’s fire chaplaincy program and served as its lead chaplain—a volunteer position—for eight years. That abruptly changed when Dr. Fox posted something on his personal blog that Austin officials considered unacceptable: his religious belief that men and women are created biologically distinct and his view that men should not compete on women’s sports teams. After Austin officials demanded that Dr. Fox recant and apologize for his beliefs and Dr. Fox refused, they terminated him. After an ADF lawsuit, ADF attorneys reach a favorable settlement agreement with city officials. As part of the settlement, city officials paid Dr. Fox damages and wrote a letter thanking him for his valued service.

First Baptist Dallas

First Baptist endured an IRS investigation based on comments made by its pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, in a worship service. Although First Baptist explicitly disclaimed any endorsement of political candidates, the IRS initiated a tax inquiry and demanded extensive documents. The IRS’s scrutiny followed a worship service attended by then-Vice President Pence, where no political opponents were mentioned and no candidate endorsements were issued. This is unacceptable, which is why ADF attorneys filed an amicus brief on behalf of First Baptist and another church that faced IRS investigations tied to the Johnson Amendment in the case National Religious Broadcasters v. Internal Revenue Service.

Hearing #5: Healthcare and Social Services

On March 16, 2026, the commission held its fifth hearing, where several ADF clients testified about violations to their religious freedom in the context of healthcare and providing social services.

Kaley Chiles

Kaley Chiles works as a licensed professional counselor in Colorado who helps clients with various issues, including gender identity. Kaley sees her work as an outpouring of her Christian faith, and numerous clients come to her because she shares their own faith-based convictions and worldview.

But in 2019, Colorado legislators passed a law censoring licensed counselors from saying anything to clients under the age of 18 that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s … gender identity.” Notably, the law enables counselors to push clients toward “gender transition,” which will often lead to harmful drugs and procedures. But counselors are prohibited from helping clients regain peace with their biological sex—even when that is the client’s personal goal.

Thankfully, in March 2026, the Supreme Court issued a monumental 8-1 decision upholding free speech, affirming that counseling conversations are speech and that states cannot silence viewpoints in the counseling room.

Jean Marie Davis

Jean Marie Davis is an overcomer of human trafficking. From ages 2 to 29, she was trafficked, and when she became pregnant, she started looking for help. Through God’s grace, she met a woman named Phyllis Phelps. Phyllis told Jean, “I can’t heal all those things that you’re going through. But I know a Man named Jesus who can help you.” They prayed together, and Christ transformed Jean Marie’s life and soul. Phyllis was a counselor at a pro-life pregnancy center and walked alongside Jean Marie during her pregnancy, and eventually, Jean Marie gave birth to her son, Jonah. Now, Jean Marie is executive director of Branches Family Resource Center, where she is able to help other women in her situation choose life and provide them with the resources they need: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

But a Vermont law threatened Jean Marie’s work at Branches. In 2023, Vermont passed a bill that censored the ability of Branches and other pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise their services and to counsel women and families facing unplanned pregnancies. If centers in the state advertised in a way that Vermont’s pro-abortion attorney general deemed misleading, the centers could have been fined up to $10,000—crippling the centers. Thankfully, after an ADF lawsuit, Vermont amended its law in 2025 to no longer discriminate against the centers over their life-affirming service to their communities.

Sherrie Laurie

Sherrie Laurie is the executive director of Downtown Hope Center, a homeless ministry in Anchorage, Alaska. Downtown Hope Center serves everyone who walks through its doors, offering tangible goods, job-skill training programs, and most importantly, the love of Jesus. The Hope Center also runs an overnight women’s shelter. The women who come to the Hope Center are often victims of sexual assault, trafficking, and severe domestic violence. Many are looking for a safe place to sleep and often are trying to escape abusive situations.

But the city of Anchorage came after the Hope Center—twice—because it would not allow men who identify as women to sleep in its women’s shelter due to its religious convictions beliefs about sex and protecting women. To force abused women to sleep next to a man could have been traumatizing for them. Many would have left. Thankfully, with ADF’s help, the court protected the Hope Center’s freedom to exist consistent with its belief that God created men and women distinct in design.

Brian and Katy Wuoti

Brian and Katy Wuoti are foster parents in the state of Vermont. For years, they had done incredible work as foster parents, with one supervisor from the Vermont Department of Children and Families (DCF) even saying that she “probably could not hand pick a more wonderful foster family.” But in 2022, the DCF passed a new policy requiring foster parents to use pronouns inconsistent with their foster children’s sex, take children to events like pride parades, and agree to affirm ideas and beliefs about gender “even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs.”

As devoted Christians, the Wuotis would love and care for any child placed in their care. But they believe that God created everyone either male or female, and they cannot compromise those beliefs by lying to children about gender or taking them to events that violate their religious beliefs. When they told this to the DCF, their foster license was revoked. Thankfully, after an ADF lawsuit, Vermont officials finalized a new policy in February 2026 clarifying that foster families don’t need to abandon their religious beliefs or promote gender ideology to qualify as foster parents.

Dr. Leslee Cochrane

Dr. Leslee Cochrane is a full-time hospice physician in California who is board-certified in family medicine with a certificate of additional qualification in hospice and palliative medicine. Dr. Cochrane is also a member of the Christian Medical & Dental Association (CMDA). CMDA and its members like Dr. Cochrane seek to live out their Christian beliefs in their practice of healthcare, including their belief in the sanctity of human life. It would violate their consciences to participate in assisted suicide in any way.

But California law forced these healthcare professionals to actively facilitate the physician-assisted suicide process. CMDA members believe deeply that suffering patients need understanding and sound medical treatment, not encouragement to kill themselves, which is why ADF filed a lawsuit on their behalf in 2022. Thankfully, a federal court ruled in favor of Dr. Cochrane and the CMDA, and California agreed in a settlement to no longer force doctors to violate their religious beliefs by participating in physician-assisted suicide.

Why these stories matter

The Religious Liberty Commission’s hearings underscore a simple truth: when religious liberty is denied, every American suffers. The courage shown by ADF’s many clients reminds us of what’s at stake if the government is allowed to silence people of faith.

As these hearings continue, ADF will continue defending every person’s God-given right to live and speak the truth. Together, we can help keep the First Amendment strong for the next generation and beyond.