FFRF on the road (May 2023)

FFRF Attorney Ryan Jayne, shown here with Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers (IAF) President Ashley Bennum, spoke in the Capitol building in Des Moines on March 23 at the IAF event, “Theocracy Is Un-American: A Rally for Secular Government.”

FFRF attorneys presented a continuing legal education class in early March at the James E. Doyle chapter of Inns of Court, a professional membership organization that includes judges, of which at least four Dane County judges and one appelate judge were in attendance. From left, FFRF Attorney Ryan Jayne stands with Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert and FFRF Attorney Sam Grover.

Thirty-six years ago on May 30, 1987, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, who now serve as FFRF co-presidents, were married at Sauk City’s historic Freethought Hall in Sauk City. On April 15, they returned to address the Free Congregation of Sauk City to walk down the aisle again in the renamed Park Hall, a 1852 building with an auditorium that the congregation recently restored, with many beautiful features including “secular” stained glass windows. The FFRF Board was proud to make a contribution toward that restoration. Annie Laurie spoke about the rising of the “Nones” and how the Nones can save our secular democracy from Christian nationalism. Dan gave a concert at the piano with freethinking songs. They are pictured above with Park Hall organizers Fritz Parks and Susan Larkin. The building, one of more than 30 in Wisconsin in the 1800s, was built by the Frei Gemeinde, freethinking Germans who fled after the failed revolution of 1848 and became abolitionists, suffragists and progressives in the United States. The hall became the center of Sauk City, where graduations were held, and is still a community resource that is treasured. It is now the only extant such Freethought Hall in Wisconsin — with the exception of FFRF’s office in downtown Madison, which is named Freethought Hall in honor of Wisconsin’s history.

Dan Barker, on behalf of Polish atheists, presents Richard Dawkins with the “Atheist of All Time” award at the “Atheist Days” conference in Warsaw, Poland, on April 1, where Dan also spoke and gave a freethought concert.

On April 4, Dan Barker visited with former Christian missionary Erik Elster in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a member of The Clergy Project. Elster took Barker to visit the Vasa Museum.

On April 3, Dan Barker, center, met with the leaders of Swedish Humanists, David Ronnegard and Ulf Gustaffson.

FFRF Legal Fellow Kat Grant and Liz Cavell spoke at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law on April 12 to discuss the anti-trans crusade in legislatures and courts. The event was in person and also via Zoom and recorded for dissemination to students who couldn’t be there.

At the FreeFlo conference in Orlando, Fla., on March 11, FFRF Attorney Liz Cavell, right, was a member of a state/church separation legal panel, which included, from left, moderator David Williams, ACLU of Florida Attorney Caroline McNamara and American Atheists Litigation Counsel Geoffrey Blackwell. About 300 people attended the conference. “It was a great conversation about the current state of the law and courts, with lots of audience engagement,” Cavell says.

FFRF on the road (May 2023)

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