Moms for Liberty

Moms for Liberty is an American conservative nonprofit organization that advocates for parental rights.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The organization has campaigned against COVID-19 restrictions in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates, and against school curriculums that mention LGBT rights, race, and discrimination,[1][4][6] and multiple chapters have campaigned to ban from school libraries books that address gender and sexuality issues.

Moms for Liberty
FormationJanuary 2021
Founders
  • Tina Descovich
  • Tiffany Justice
  • Marie Rogerson
TypeNonprofit organization
HeadquartersMelbourne, Florida, U.S.
Area served
United States
Membership
56,000
Websitehttps://www.momsforliberty.org/

Moms for Liberty has been criticized for harassment from its members, deepening divisions among parents, making it more challenging for school officials to educate students, and having close ties to the Republican Party rather than being a genuine grassroots effort.

Founding and structure

Moms for Liberty was co-founded in January 2021 by former school board members Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice, and by Republican activist Marie Rogerson.[1][3] Descovich conceived of the organization in the fall of 2020 after losing a seat on the Brevard County school board to former district employee Jennifer Jenkins, who campaigned against Descovich's opposition to mask mandates and teacher raises.[1] Moms for Liberty's website was registered in late 2020.[8]

As of November 2021, the organization has 142 chapters in 35 U.S. states and as of October 2021, it has 56,000 members and supporters.[1][6] Moms for Liberty is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.[6]

Advocacy and controversy

The organization began by campaigning against COVID-19-related restrictions in schools, challenging mask mandates and associated local policies. Members of Moms for Liberty quickly broadened their agenda to encompass other school-related items, focusing on the way issues such as racism and religion are addressed in the reading materials provided to students.[8] The organization has been described as conservative[1][2][4][5][7] and far-right.[8][9]

Critics have accused Moms for Liberty of deepening divisions among parents and making it more challenging for school officials to educate students.[1] Left-leaning Media Matters for America has accused the organization of using "parental rights" as a cover for strategically harassing public schools.[1][9] Jenkins, who replaced Descovich on the Brevard County school board, said that she was harassed by members of Moms for Liberty. According to Jenkins, a member of the group filed a false child abuse report with the county department of Child and Family Services against her.[1][9]

In June 2021, the chair of the Williamson County Moms for Liberty chapter told Tennessee's Department of Education in a letter that the district's curriculum was in violation of a recently-enacted state law banning the teaching of ideas related to critical race theory. Specific complaints were made about texts featuring Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, Civil Rights Movement protests, and school segregation.[2][7][8] In late November of 2021 the Tennessee Department of Education rejected the complaint on procedural grounds.[10][11]

In November 2021, the Brevard County Moms for Liberty chapter filed a lawsuit against the Brevard County School Board over its public participation policy, claiming that the board has used the policy to limit speech and access of opposing viewpoints during meetings.[5]

Moms for Liberty was criticized for offering a bounty to members of the public who "caught" teachers introducing texts or lessons in violation of New Hampshire's new law restricting discussions of race in school classrooms. On November 10, 2021, the New Hampshire Department of Education announced a website questionnaire to make it easier for the public to help enforce the law. A couple of days later, the New Hampshire Moms for Liberty chapter offered a monetary reward for doing so, tweeting: "We’ve got $500 for the person that first successfully catches a public school teacher breaking this law". Republican Governor of New Hampshire Chris Sununu's spokesman said that "The Governor condemns the tweet referencing 'bounties' and any sort of financial incentive is wholly inappropriate and has no place".[12]

Book banning efforts
Main article: Book banning

According to The Daily Beast, a spreadsheet accompanying the Williamson County letter of complaint contained several other stated concerns about the county's curriculum. An article about police brutality against civil rights demonstrators in the 1960s was criticised for its "negative view of Firemen and police."[8] A fictional account of the American Civil War used with fifth-graders was deemed unsuitable because of its depictions of "out of marriage families between white men and black women".[8] A book about Galileo Galilei, an astronomer persecuted by the Catholic Church for theorizing the Earth revolves around the Sun, should, according to the spreadsheet, not be read without some counterbalancing praise of the church: "Where is the HERO of the church?", asks the spreadsheet notation, "to contrast with their mistakes? ... Both good and bad should be represented".[8] A picture book about seahorses was condemned for depicting "mating seahorses with pictures of postions [sic] and discussion of the male carrying the eggs."[8] The Williamson County Moms for Liberty chapter told The Daily Beast in an e-mail: "Some books should be removed entirely. Some books are objectionable only because of how they are presented via the accompanying teacher's manual. And yes, some books would be better suited to a higher grade level due to their age inappropriate content."[2][7][8][13]

In Florida in 2021 the Indian River County chapter requested the local school board remove from school libraries 51 books the group "deem(ed) to be pornographic or sexually explicit."[14][15] A critically acclaimed[16][17][18][19][20] young adult book about growing up gay, All Boys Aren't Blue, was pulled from the Vero Beach High School library after the group objected to it as being in violation of a Florida statute against providing access to pornography to children.[15] The Hernando chapter objected to Looking for Alaska, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and two books by National Book Award winner Alex Gino.[21]

In December 2021 the Wake County, NC, chapter filed a criminal complaint against the Wake County Public School System over the books Lawn Boy, Gender Queer: a Memoir, and George.[22]

According to WFTS, as of December 2021 "several schools" had removed books from shelves because of various groups' efforts.[23]

Funding

Cofounder Tina Descovich has stated that Moms for Liberty is funded by individual $50 memberships and the sale of Moms for Liberty T-shirts.[1] Democrats have questioned how the organization is being funded, pointing out that its expansion comes as Florida governor Ron DeSantis begins his reelection campaign.[1] According to an analysis by Media Matters for America, Moms for Liberty benefits financially from right-wing funding and ties to traditional Republican political figures.[9] It is well-connected with Republican politicians and groups and financially supported by much more than membership fees and T-shirt sales.[9] Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, a co-director of the organization, is the wife of Christian Ziegler, vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party.[9] Moms for Liberty has received financial support from Conservatives for Good Government, a conservative Florida political action committee. The group also hosts fundraisers with conservative celebrities such as former Fox News host Megyn Kelly.[9][14]

References
  1. Craig, Tim (2021-10-15). "Moms for Liberty has turned 'parental rights' into a rallying cry for conservative parents". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  2. Papenfuss, Mary (2021-09-25). "Hugging Sea Horse Book Is Too Racy For Schools, Tennessee Moms Group Says". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  3. Nolan Wisler, Suzanne (2021-10-02). "Monroe County mom starts Moms for Liberty chapter". The Monroe News. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  4. Shoop, Tom (2021-10-18). "'Moms for Liberty' Group Sets Sights on Local Government". Route Fifty. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  5. Gallion, Bailey (2021-11-08). "Moms for Liberty sues Brevard School Board, saying speech rules discriminate by view". Florida Today. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  6. Hollingsworth, Heather; Thompson, Carolyn (2021-11-03). "Education fight a winning message in Va., but not everywhere". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  7. Borter, Gabriella (2021-09-21). "'Critical race theory' roils a Tennessee school district". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  8. Weill, Kelly (2021-09-24). "Far-Right Group Wants to Ban Kids From Reading Books on Male Seahorses, Galileo, and MLK". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  9. Little, Olivia (2021-11-12). Unmasking Moms for Liberty. Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  10. Keafer, Tori. "Complaint filed by local Moms for Liberty chapter rejected by state". Williamson Herald. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  11. Clark, Kevin L. (3 December 2021). "Right-Wing "Moms for Liberty" Group Wants 'Anti-American' MLK Jr. Book Banned From Schools". Essence. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  12. Peiser, Jaclyn (2021-11-19). "N.H. governor slams conservative group’s $500 reward for reporting critical race teachings: 'Wholly inappropriate'. The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  13. Chapman, Matthew (2021-09-25). "'Moms for Liberty' group demands schools stop exposing kids to 'sexy' pictures of seahorses". Salon. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  14. Anderson, Zac. "What is Moms for Liberty? Here's a look at its roots, its philosophy and its mission". Treasure Coast Palm. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  15. Hodges, Andy (2021-11-17). "Moms for Liberty Creates List of Books with Shocking Content in Indian River County Schools". Sebastian Daily. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  16. "Teens' Top Ten". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). August 14, 2021.
  17. Pullen, Emily (November 24, 2020). "Introducing NYPL's Best Books of 2020". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  18. "Best YA Biography and Memoir of 2020". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  19. "Children's Book Review: All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-37431-271-8". PublishersWeekly.com.
  20. "ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE | Kirkus Reviews" – via covers.kirkusreviews.com.
  21. MacNeil, Lisa (2021-11-27). "Content of school library books too inappropriate for official video of public meeting". Hernando Sun. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  22. Chapin, Josh (2021-12-03). "Wake County moms want some books taken out of school libraries". WTVD. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  23. "Founders of controversial Moms for Liberty group set record straight on who they are and who they're not". WFTS. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
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