Moms for Liberty

Moms for Liberty
FormationJanuary 1, 2021; 3 years ago
Founders
HeadquartersMelbourne, Florida, U.S.
Area served
United States
Websitemomsforliberty.org

Moms for Liberty is an American political organization that advocates against school curricula that mention LGBT rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory, and discrimination.[1][2][3][4] Multiple chapters have also campaigned to ban books that address gender and sexuality from school libraries.[1][5][6] Founded in January 2021, the group began by campaigning against COVID-19 responses in schools such as mask and vaccine mandates.[1] Moms for Liberty is influential within the Republican Party.[7]

Moms for Liberty has been described as conservative.[1][8][2][9][10] The group has been criticized for harassment, for deepening divisions among parents, for making students' education more difficult, and for having close ties to the Republican Party rather than being a genuine grassroots effort.

In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks extremists, termed Moms for Liberty a far-right extremist organization.[11][12][13][14] On July 1, 2023, founder Tiffany Justice openly praised a group leader who supported Adolf Hitler, explicitly mentioning that the group member had quoted Hitler.[15][16][17]

  1. ^ a b c d Craig, Tim (October 15, 2021). "Moms for Liberty has turned 'parental rights' into a rallying cry for conservative parents". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Shoop, Tom (October 18, 2021). "'Moms for Liberty' Group Sets Sights on Local Government". Route Fifty. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  3. ^ Hollingsworth, Heather; Thompson, Carolyn (November 3, 2021). "Education fight a winning message in Va., but not everywhere". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Santiago, Leyla; Weisfeldt, Sara (December 17, 2021). "How two Florida moms spearheaded a parent movement aiming to impact the 2022 elections". CNN. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  5. ^ Anderson, Zac; Brugal, Sommer (December 28, 2021). "Moms for Liberty: How an army of education activists has become a national political force". USA Today. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Jeeded, Laura (May 20, 2022). "Moms for Liberty Has Created Nightmares for Schools Across the Country". The New Republic. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  7. ^ Swenson, Ali (June 12, 2023). "Moms for Liberty rises as power player in GOP politics after attacking schools over gender, race". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (September 25, 2021). "Hugging Sea Horse Book Is Too Racy For Schools, Tennessee Moms Group Says". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  9. ^ Gallion, Bailey (November 8, 2021). "Moms for Liberty sues Brevard School Board, saying speech rules discriminate by view". Florida Today. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Borter, Gabriella (September 21, 2021). "'Critical race theory' roils a Tennessee school district". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "Moms for Liberty". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  12. ^ Yousef, Odette (June 7, 2023). "Moms for Liberty among conservative groups named 'extremist' by civil rights watchdog". NPR. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  13. ^ Johnson, Krista (June 6, 2023). "'Parents' rights' group behind Kentucky book bans labeled as extremist by SPLC". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  14. ^ Carless, Will (June 6, 2023). "'Parents' rights' groups labeled extremist: SPLC lists a key Florida group as anti-government". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference hitlerquote1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference hitlerquote2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference hitlerquote3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).