Florida sex scandal dents credibility of right-wing group Moms for Liberty
1 year ago

Florida sex scandal dents credibility of right-wing group Moms for Liberty

Hindustan Times  

The Covid-19 pandemic sparked the rise of ‘Moms for Liberty’, a right-wing group that opposed school closures and mask mandates, and also advocated for policies that critics labeled as anti-L.G.B.T.Q. Sarasota County School Board chair Karen Rose introduces a non-binding resolution asking for the resignation of school board member Bridget Ziegler, who is also co-founder of conservative parents group Moms for Liberty, during a school board meeting in Sarasota, Florida, U.S. December 12, 2023. “Most of our community could not care less what you do in the privacy of your own home, but your hypocrisy takes center stage,” said Sally Sells, a local parent and one of the many speakers who denounced Ms. Ziegler and Moms for Liberty at a heated school board meeting this week. The group suffered a series of defeats in key school board races in 2023, raising doubts about the future of education issues as a driving force in Republican politics.

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History of this topic

Donald Trump speech at Moms for Liberty: Why the group sounds so different now.
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Donald Trump speech at Moms for Liberty: Why the group sounds so different now.

Slate  

This story about Moms for Liberty was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. The conservative parent group Moms for Liberty made a point of attacking the Democrats’ use of the phrase during its four-day annual summit over Labor Day weekend in Washington, D.C. “I want to remind people who …

Moms for Liberty tries to abandon 'extremist' image with RNC rebrand
5 months, 1 week ago

Moms for Liberty tries to abandon 'extremist' image with RNC rebrand

Raw Story  

MILWAUKEE — Gone was Moms for Liberty’s bashing of critical race theory. We’ve received multiple death threats,” said co-founder Tiffany Justice, vowing like many of the featured speakers to “fight” for a suite of causes that bolster “parental rights” in education. “Social media is a net negative.” Detractors of Moms for Liberty have accused certain group members of harboring ties …

Moms for Liberty founder sent Florida GOP chair to bars prowling for hookups: police docs
7 months ago

Moms for Liberty founder sent Florida GOP chair to bars prowling for hookups: police docs

Raw Story  

Bridget Ziegler, the founder of the far-right, anti-gay Moms for Liberty group, sent out her husband, Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler, to bars to find women to bring home for sex, police documents reveal. According to The Daily Beast, "Text messages quoted in a Sarasota Police Department memo that was obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune revealed how Ziegler sent her …

Moms for Liberty work like a genteel Stasi — rooting out dangerous thought
10 months, 1 week ago

Moms for Liberty work like a genteel Stasi — rooting out dangerous thought

Raw Story  

The moms of Moms for “Liberty” are feeling a little touchy, put-upon, even diminished. Justice and her sister suburban harpies claim they want to protect children’s “innocence.” Bridget Ziegler via Facebook For months now they’ve been forced to defend themselves against charges of rank hypocrisy: Bridget Ziegler, another Moms co-founder and member of the Sarasota County School Board, likes the …

Florida school board moves to oust embattled Moms for Liberty co-founder over sex scandal
1 year ago

Florida school board moves to oust embattled Moms for Liberty co-founder over sex scandal

Raw Story  

The co-founder of the anti-LGBTQ Moms for Liberty group could soon be ousted from a Florida school board over a sexual assault investigation into her husband. The Sarasota County School Board will vote Tuesday on a resolution asking her to resign, because the panel cannot directly remove her, and chairwoman Karen Rose said she was "shocked and deeply saddened" by …

Florida school board recommends ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal
1 year ago

Florida school board recommends ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal

Associated Press  

SARASOTA, Fla. — A Florida school board voted on Tuesday to recommend the resignation of one of its members because she is embroiled in the fallout of a sexual assault investigation into her husband, the Republican Party state chairman. The resolution was authored by board Chair Karen Rose, who said in an email that she is “shocked and deeply saddened” …

Florida school board recommends ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal
1 year ago

Florida school board recommends ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal

LA Times  

The Sarasota County School Board cannot directly remove Bridget Ziegler from the panel but voted 4-1 for her to step down. The resolution was authored by board Chair Karen Rose, who said in an email that she is “shocked and deeply saddened” by the rape allegations involving Ziegler’s husband, Christian Ziegler, and the couple’s admissions about previously having a three-way …

Curtains for Moms for Liberty: The fallout of a rape charge shows the far-right group is floundering
1 year ago

Curtains for Moms for Liberty: The fallout of a rape charge shows the far-right group is floundering

Salon  

This story has been updated to reflect details from affidavits recently made public. Just as predictable were the details dug up by local reporters for the Florida Trident that "both the woman and Bridget Ziegler independently told police they had engaged with Christian Ziegler in a three-way sexual encounter more than a year before the incident, according to a search …

Moms for Liberty deletes statement boosting co-founder whose husband is accused of battery
1 year ago

Moms for Liberty deletes statement boosting co-founder whose husband is accused of battery

Raw Story  

The far-right Christian nationalist organization Moms for Liberty issued, then later deleted, a statement declaring support for its co-founder after her husband, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, was accused of sexual battery by a woman who allegedly has had a consensual “three-way sexual relationship” with the married couple. “The alleged sexual battery occurred inside the woman’s home in …

Fl. GOP chair and husband of Moms for Liberty co-founder accused of sexual battery: report
1 year ago

Fl. GOP chair and husband of Moms for Liberty co-founder accused of sexual battery: report

Raw Story  

Florida’s GOP chairman has been accused of sexual battery by a woman who says she was part of a ménage à trois with him and his wife, who's a co-founder of right-wing group Moms for Liberty, according to a new report. The woman says she partook in a consensual threesome with Christian Ziegler and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, sources told …

This Extremist Group Calls Itself A 'Parental Rights' Org. Now It's Targeting School Boards In 1 Key State.
1 year, 1 month ago

This Extremist Group Calls Itself A 'Parental Rights' Org. Now It's Targeting School Boards In 1 Key State.

Huff Post  

Moms for Liberty co-founders Tina Descovich, left, and Tiffany Justice speak at the organization's June summit in Philadelphia. In the Owen J. Roberts School District in Chester County — approximately an hour’s drive from Philadelphia — the full slate of GOP candidates has been endorsed by Moms for Liberty. “We can’t have four more like her.” On the GOP slate’s …

Moms for Liberty meets its match: Parents in this swing suburban district are fighting back
1 year, 2 months ago

Moms for Liberty meets its match: Parents in this swing suburban district are fighting back

Salon  

"Monster Liberty": That's how the otherwise excellent closed-captioning service in the auditorium at Pennridge High School interpreted "Moms for Liberty," while one of several dozen citizens who had waited in line to lambast the group spoke at the podium. Yes, the Pennridge school board was dominated by far-right members, one of whom had been present in Washington for Donald Trump's …

LOCALIZE IT: Moms for Liberty expands efforts to take over school boards, other education posts
1 year, 5 months ago

LOCALIZE IT: Moms for Liberty expands efforts to take over school boards, other education posts

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The group’s co-founder, Tiffany Justice, …

Moms for Liberty’s focus on school races nationwide sets up political clash with teachers unions
1 year, 5 months ago

Moms for Liberty’s focus on school races nationwide sets up political clash with teachers unions

Associated Press  

PHILADELPHIA — Moms for Liberty, a “parental rights” group that has sought to take over school boards in multiple states, is looking to expand those efforts across the country and to other education posts in 2024 and beyond. The group’s co-founder, Tiffany Justice, said during its annual summit over the weekend in Philadelphia that Moms for Liberty will use its …

US Republican candidates woo controversial Moms for Liberty group
1 year, 5 months ago

US Republican candidates woo controversial Moms for Liberty group

Al Jazeera  

The high-profile lineup at the group’s national conference shows it has become a power player in the Republican Party. At least one hate group monitor, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has labelled Moms for Liberty an “extremist” group that opposes racial inclusivity and spreads “hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community”. Moms for Liberty built early momentum with support …

Moms for Liberty has been infiltrated by hardcore right-wing groups: report
1 year, 6 months ago

Moms for Liberty has been infiltrated by hardcore right-wing groups: report

Raw Story  

The conservative group Moms for Liberty was founded as a "parental rights" group that focuses on protecting students from content that deals in race or gender and electing conservative candidates to school boards. "There's an ongoing campaign by these neo-Nazi groups to radicalize some of these more benign patriot MAGA groups—and it's working because I've seen more Nazi content creeping …

Moms for Liberty rises as power player in GOP politics after attacking schools over gender, race
1 year, 6 months ago

Moms for Liberty rises as power player in GOP politics after attacking schools over gender, race

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — To its members, it’s a grassroots army of “joyful warriors” who “don’t co-parent with the government.” To anti-hate researchers, it’s a well-connected extremist group that attacks inclusion in schools. Moms for Liberty pitches itself as a nonpartisan, grassroots effort started by passionate parents who call themselves “joyful warriors.” Yet the group’s close ties to Republican organizations, donors …

Moms for Liberty among conservative groups named 'extremist' by civil rights watchdog
1 year, 6 months ago

Moms for Liberty among conservative groups named 'extremist' by civil rights watchdog

NPR  

Moms for Liberty among conservative groups named 'extremist' by civil rights watchdog Enlarge this image toggle caption Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg via Getty Images More than two years into a conservative push against teaching about Black history, literature and gender identity in public schools, the Southern Poverty Law Center has concluded that a dozen so-called "parental rights" groups behind …

Two Florida moms fight back against banned books
1 year, 7 months ago

Two Florida moms fight back against banned books

LA Times  

The tattoos on Jen Cousins’ arms speak to literacy and how books can take us on trips across strange and extraordinary universes: an owl for wisdom, a drawing from the novel “Wonder,” multicolored glasses from Harry Potter and a saying from one of her children: “The world is only what you shape it to be.” But as any Hogwarts wizard …

Moms for Liberty: "Joyful Warriors" in the fight to demolish public school
2 years, 5 months ago

Moms for Liberty: "Joyful Warriors" in the fight to demolish public school

Salon  

Last weekend in Tampa, about 500 members of the conservative education advocacy network Moms for Liberty gathered for their first national summit. Ron DeSantis receiving a ceremonial wooden "liberty sword" for his efforts in support of "parents' rights"; right-wing education activists warning parents that public schools have become "Maoist thought reform prisons" intent on transforming their children into "change agents"; …

The next threat to democracy in the US: Moms for Liberty?
2 years, 7 months ago

The next threat to democracy in the US: Moms for Liberty?

Al Jazeera  

It sounds like the plot of an over-the-top action movie or a political satire: mothers joining local school boards across the country are actually part of a radical network infiltrating government from the bottom up, determined to take power, punish their opponents and eventually rule with an iron fist. But this seemingly outlandish plot is actually a disturbingly accurate description …

Why education was a top voter priority this election
3 years, 1 month ago

Why education was a top voter priority this election

NPR  

Why education was a top voter priority this election Enlarge this image toggle caption Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images It touches most every household in the United States, whether as taxpayers or as parents, but come Election Day, education rarely makes it to the top of voter priorities. The 1776 PAC, a newly founded national …

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