Dem
51
GOP
49
Moms for Liberty is, to most people who are not members of the group, pretty obnoxious. Their aggressive censorship of books is part of the problem, but their aggressive "persuasive" tactics, often in service of a discriminatory agenda, are an even bigger part.
These days, however, things are not going so well for the organization. According to a story this week in The National Review, two of the most prominent chapters of the organization are dying on the vine. The Lehigh County, PA, chapter has shut down entirely, while the Brevard County, FL, chapter, which was the first one in the country, is down to a small handful of members. At the most recent school board meeting in that community, only one Mom for Liberty showed up. She was outgunned during the discussion of whether or not to ban Kite Runner and Slaughterhouse-Five, and eventually snuck out of the room when it became clear the books would stay on library shelves.
The beginning of what is looking more and more like the end came during the 2023 elections. The organization, which by then was pretty toxic, endorsed 130 candidates for various school boards. Less than a dozen of them won, as moms (and dads) for actual liberty rallied to defeat the other 120 folks. And even when Moms for Liberty is able to put up a strong showing, they tend to attract an even louder and larger group of counter-protesters.
It also did not help things that Moms for Liberty founder Bridget Ziegler has been enmeshed in a sex scandal involving her ménage à trois arrangement with her husband and another woman. This undermined her support with many conservatives, who don't approve of that sort of non-traditional arrangement. And it gave ammunition to liberals, since Ziegler defended herself by declaring that people's sex lives are their own business. That's absolutely true, but it also makes her a hypocrite, since she has been more than willing to weigh in on the sex lives of LGBTQ people in the past.
Even without Ziegler's issues, however, Moms for Liberty would surely still be in decline. It appears that the organization/movement was largely a product of the pandemic. Adults had a lot of stored-up spare time and anxiety, and kids were being educated at home, right under mom's and dad's noses. This context lent itself to aggressive interference, in which things got very intense and often very personal. But now that the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, Moms for Liberty is headed for the same fate. Good riddance. (Z)