Moms for Liberty

Moms For Liberty was founded in January 2021 claiming it will “organize, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights.” This advocacy has included calls for book bans, classroom censorship, and bans on teaching about slavery, race, racism and LGBTQ people and history. Moms for Liberty claims to be a grassroots organization, but its founders and founding chapter have strong ties to high-ranking elected officials and national anti-LGBTQ groups including the Heritage Foundation. It claims to have 135 chapters in 35 states. (Founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich pictured above.)

—In June 2023 Moms for Liberty’s Hamilton County chapter launched a newsletter that quoted Adolph Hitler on the cover.

—In a 2022 report Mom’s for Liberty is designated an “extremist group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that monitors hate groups and extremism in the United States. “The SPLC has put it and similar organizations on its list of anti-government extremist entities, drawing comparisons between them and parent groups that attempted to re-segregate public schools during the civil rights movement,” reports NPR.

—Tweeted, “Gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder that is being normalized by predators across the USA. California kids are at extreme risk from predatory adults. Now they want to ‘liberate’ children all over the country. Does a double mastectomy on a preteen sound like progress?” The tweet, regarding California SB 107 gender transition bill, got their account suspended.

—Eulalia Jimenez, chair of Moms for Liberty, Miami Chapter, spread disinformation about a shooting massacre falsely identifying the Uvalde, TX, elementary school shooter who killed 19 children and two adults, as a trans woman.

—Crystal Alonso, member of Moms for Liberty, Miami-Dade County, FL, says LGBTQ students should be separated into their own special class, saying, “The kids that do have their, you know, they’re confused, or they are gay or whatnot that the way they’re trying to go about it is to make it an open conversation and an open thing in classrooms … But like for example children with autism, Down Syndrome… they have to be put into separate classrooms. I understand, because it’s a different type of education for children with those disabilities, but I think that for children that identify differently, there should also be like a specialized … something for them, so that they feel that they’re important enough that they’re being counseled…I think for the same reason why teachers wouldn’t just bring a child with autism in front of the class and be like, hey, he’s got autism. Embarrassment …”

—Lied to the parents of a young person that the Rainbow Youth Project, an organization promotes the health, safety, and wellness of LGBTQ youth was attempting to “convince [their child] to have his private parts removed and changed.”

—Their harassment at a school board meeting in Wauwatosa County, WI, prompted police presence at a Wauwatosa School Board meeting when members of Moms for Liberty and Gays Against Groomers “accused attendees of being groomers, not actually being gay and wanting to show explicit pictures to children. The group’s members even brought a 10-year-old student to tears.”

—The chairperson of the Monroe County, PA, chapter was arrested on a “summary charge of harassment” after allegedly repeatedly harassing an individual with messages.

—The head of communications of the Lonoke County, AR, chapter threatened gun violence against librarians.

—Ed Kelley, A Moms for Liberty-affiliated Charleston County School Board (SC), attended a Moms for Liberty meeting and publicly stated that he would bring a gun to the home of his child’s teacher if the teacher came out as trans.

—Hosting at its first national summit Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has instigated and signed into law anti-LGBTQ policies; former Governor and current Senator Rick Scott; and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The summit also hosted anti-LGBTQ activist groups like Turning Point USA, the Leadership Institute and Heritage Action, and the evangelical Liberty University.

—Falsely claiming it stands “against government overreach and intimidation tactics,” while attempting to ban books about Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, and Black and queer memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue. Supporters including Florida state representative Randy Fine posted a school board member’s cell phone number on Facebook. A school board member who defeated one of the founders of Moms for Liberty says opponents filed a false claim of child abuse against her, and protestors shouted at her five year old child outside her home.

—School board member details how Moms for Liberty targeted county guidelines to protect students’ right to dress and use bathrooms according to the gender they identify with, falsely calling school board members “pedophiles.”

—Founder Tiffany Justice supports Florida “Don’t Say Gay/Trans” censorship law, falsely and disingenuously claiming “nothing about the bill says anything about gay or straight.” Text of the bill shows it prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. Justice also fails to provide evidence to support her claims of “indoctrination” in schools, and defames those who support children being able to discuss their LGBTQ family or identities as “groomers.”

—Offers bounties to encourage people to report on teachers who discuss so-called “divisive concepts” including discrimination based on sex or race.

—Spreads inaccurate and inflammatory claims about LGBTQ books, including the memoir of Black and queer author George M. Johnson All Boys Aren’t Blue, for so-called “racially charged commentary” and “alternate gender ideologies” as well as sexually explicit passages, alcohol and drug use, and profanity. Johnson’s book was named a 2020 Best Book of the Year by Amazon, the New York and Chicago public libraries and Kirkus Reviews.

—A Moms for Liberty chapter in Brevard County, Florida, is chaired by a business owner known for refusing to serve same-sex couples.

—A Texas Moms for Liberty chapter announced it would host anti-LGBTQ activist Kelly Neidert at its July 25 meeting. Neidert is well-known in the greater Dallas area for harassing local LGBTQ events including story hours for children, protesting outside of a medical center that treats transgender patients, and being permanently suspended from Twitter for tweeting “Let’s start rounding up people who participate in Pride events” in addition to repeated misgendering and anti-trans rhetoric. Neidert’s targeting of transgender people led more than 21,000 people to sign a petition created by her fellow students at the University of North Texas calling for her expulsion from the school.

—A Tennessee Moms For Liberty chapter shared video of a school Pride club Homecoming float. Local community members said the video outed some students and put their safety at risk. Moms for Liberty claimed the float featured “two girls kissing” and “groping,” and accused the group of “encouraging bisexuality” by handing out National Bi Week awareness flyers. Moms for Liberty also criticized the school district for asking middle and high school students for their pronouns and falsely claimed of LGBTQ-inclusive clubs: “Our schools are on a slippery slope in the sexualization of children.”

—Tweeted “gender identity indoctrination” is one of the most dangerous threats facing children in America today. The CDC reported that one in four LGBTQ teens attempted suicide in 2021, with half of LGBTQ teens considering suicide. Research shows adults using a trans youth’s authentic name and pronouns improves mental health and reduces suicidal ideation. 36% of LGBTQ youth reported being physically threated or harmed due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

—Pushed for bans on discussions of racism and LGBTQ content in schools.

Funding and political support:

—Founded by Bridget Ziegler, a candidate for Sarasota County school board, who is married to County Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Christian Ziegler, who attended the rally that preceded the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Bridget Ziegler’s school board candidacy has been endorsed by anti-LGBTQ Governor DeSantis, and she appeared with DeSantis as he signed the “Don’t Say LGBTQ” bill into law, at a private school that would not be subject to the law.

—Other founders, former school board members Tina Descovich of Brevard County and Tiffany Justice of Indian River County, have amplified false claims against evidence-based healthcare for trans youth, and harmful “groomer” rhetoric. Descovich has spread misinformation about trans youth.

—Moms for Liberty’s Executive Director of Program Development, Marie Rogerson, is a campaign consultant who previously worked for Rep. Randy Fine, who has widely spread anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and supported anti-LGBTQ bills including the “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law, and pushed for bans on lifesaving, evidence-based healthcare for transgender youth.