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Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Christian Right's Eagle Forum, brought her message opposing women's rights, choice and gays to Helena in early February. Along with a public presentation at East Helena's Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church, she was the featured speaker at the Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner for the Lewis and Clark Republican Central Committee.

Phyllis Schlafly made her name by successfully opposing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the 1970s and early 1980s. She claims the ERA had a "hidden agenda of tax-funded abortions and same-sex marriages." Although her contempt for women's rights has remained, the Eagle Forum has branched out into other areas over the years. The group is also anti-choice and promotes the same one-world government conspiracy theories found in the militia movement. Schlafly warns of "globalists" and plans to convert drivers' licenses into national identification cards that will "include fingerprints and a magnetic strip containing all sorts of other information (retina scan, DNA print, voice print) to enable the government to track everyone's movements."

Since 9/11, Schlafly xenophobic attacks have reached new levels in her criticism of immigration policy. She blames immigration for the terrorist attacks and has recommended bringing back the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which served as a model for Joseph McCarthy's hearings in the 1950s. She has lamented that liberals are "demonizing" racial profiling, and she disdains tolerance and diversity. She feels they persecute Christianity and threaten Western civilization. Her tendency towards divisive politics also found her serving as co-chair of Pat Buchanan's bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 1996.

Over 200 people attended Schlafly's presentation in East Helena. It began with an invocation by Pastor BG Stumberg that discussed the need to develop culture warriors. He said he hoped some people would step forward in this capacity after hearing Schlafly's presentation. The lobbyist for the Montana Eagle Forum, Gilda Clancy, followed with an update on the group's activities at the Montana Legislature. She proudly stated she had opposed numerous bills that would grant gays and lesbian equal protection under the law, and that sodomy and homosexuality are still illegal in Montana. She said Montana Eagle Forum is part of the Montana Pro-Family Forum, which is headed by long-time Christian Coalition of Montana activist Tom Rasmussen.

Schlafly spent most of her presentation pitching membership in Eagle Forum, books she has written and other products available for purchase from the group. She also recapped her fight against the ERA. She said the ERA sought to take away a woman's right to be supported by her husband and that most women did not want to be "liberated" from their husbands and homes. She discussed how the fight against the ERA united evangelical Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Jews by making churches understand the common threat posed by the "pro-abortion" and "pro-lesbian" groups supporting the ERA. This unification, she said, helped lead to Ronald Reagan being elected president. She said Reagan's election combined Christian fundamentalists with Barry Goldwater-type fiscal conservatives. She said that combination continues to drive the conservative movement today. She also used her speech to discuss how the gay movement is negatively influencing public education and urged people to put pressure on President George W. Bush to appoint conservative judges when court vacancies arise.