Kicking Butt

January to June are always the busiest months of the year for our policy team at American Atheists, so I am relieved to say the 2026 state legislative session is officially — finally — winding down. And I am proud to tell you this was our most productive year of all time. 

>> We tracked more than 2,000 bills in every single statehouse that was in session. After poring over thousands of pages of legislative proposals, our team supported over 400 and opposed a whopping 1,553. 

To give you a sense of the sheer volume of behind-the-scenes work involved here, we monitored almost 400 bills in three states alone: Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Iowa. That means constant hearings and votes and communications to lawmakers, partners, and members. 

>> American Atheists submitted testimony in 160+ committee hearings over the past five months. In addition, we sent out ~40 Action Alerts that covered ~100 pieces of priority legislation. 

That’s more than in any previous year of this organization’s 63-year history. And in case you don’t know, our state policy team is me, an incredibly powerful tool I developed from the code up, and the expertise of Sam McGuire and Melina Cohen. Together, we three women kicked the 2026 legislative session’s butt.

>> Our opposition win rate (that’s the number of bills we wanted to defeat and did) was 88%. 

88% in this political environment is remarkable. When White Christian Nationalists flooded the zone with hundreds of proposals to restrict health care access, to religiously indoctrinate students, and to funnel public dollars to private schools, our team was ready to push back with grassroots organizing experience, legal and policy know-how, and tireless dedication to the absolute separation of church and state. 

>> Our combined advocacy efforts paid dividends: We saw 100% success rates when we doubled and tripled down with testimony, Action Alerts, and the mobilization of our Secular Advocacy Teams. 

These data don’t lie. Our small team is making a BIG impact on the lives of millions of Americans, like you, who value secular democracy and would rather not live under a regressive and repressive theocracy. 

For six decades, American Atheists has been on the front lines of the struggle for true religious equality in this country. But we can’t afford to simply play defense anymore. That’s why we’re taking the fight directly to statehouses across the country — stopping discriminatory bills in their tracks while advancing bold legislation that protects nonreligious rights and expands equality for everyone.

But here’s another truth: The budgets of White Christian Nationalist bill mills and advocacy groups absolutely dwarf ours. All the victories we’ve had against them are only possible with your continued financial support. 

>> In fact, when Melina asked me to compile “a few” bullet points of our most notable wins this session, I sent her a list of 35. Because it’s hard to pick favorites when we helped ban child marriage in Oklahoma; defeated two attempts in Tennessee to prohibit the application of the Establishment Clause in public schools; and kept the Ten Commandments out of classrooms in Maryland, Virginia, and Indiana.

And again, that’s only a few examples of what we accomplished. We also helped pass a law to prohibit religious coercion in workplaces. We were instrumental in stopping multiple religiously motivated efforts to strip rights from LGBTQ+ people. We led the charge against unfair and unconstitutional religious exemptions. And we stood strong for all Americans’ right to transparent, evidence-based health care. 

People often ask us atheists what we believe in. I believe in this team, and I know we could achieve even more if folks would invest in our work. 

>> We currently have Secular Advocacy Teams in seven states. When it comes to passing positive legislation to advance nonreligious rights, those states consistently show a significant advantage (31% passage rate) over those without a team (6% passage rate). That’s a 25-point difference. Even in deep red states, those with Secular Advocacy Teams perform 14% better.  

Imagine what we could accomplish if we doubled the number of Secular Advocacy Teams before next year’s legislative session. Building that level of capacity would ensure we don’t just defend our most basic rights, but expand equality in all 50 states.

Now that you’ve seen the numbers, if you believe in this team as much as I do, please give $25, $50, or $100 now to help make that future a reality.

Thank you for making this possible, 

Victoria Anderson
State Policy Specialist