Students at a school in the Seattle Public School District sent a batch of letters to Moms for Liberty, encouraging the recognized hate group to end its crusade against LGBTQ people. Instead, the organization blasted the school in a social media post that included images revealing the school’s address, and falsely claimed that the letters were part of a classroom curriculum that was “indoctrinating” students.
The letters to Moms for Liberty, sent by students from a single class in the district, featured phrases such as “LGBTQ+ rights are human rights” and “Gay is slay,” and images of broken hearts to describe students’ feelings when people are homophobic. One letter reads: “Dear Moms for Liberty, Stop bullying and excluding LGBTQ youth and families.”
The letters were sent in a single envelope to the organization’s home office in the spring.
Late last week, Moms for Liberty’s account on X shared images of the letters, suggesting in their post that students were forced to write them.
“Seattle Public Schools are spending class time indoctrinating and weaponizing your children,” they wrote in their post. The post included images of the letters and the envelope, with the organization’s address blocked out by permanent marker but the address of the school fully visible.
A spokesperson for the school district disputes Moms for Liberty’s assertions that the class was forced to write the letters — the project was entirely voluntary, they said, and wasn’t part of any curriculum.
In other posts, co-founder of Moms for Liberty Tiffany Justice defended the organization’s response to the letters by claiming it wasn’t anti-LGBTQ. “This isn’t about sexual orientation. This is about the sexualization of children,” Justice said.
As The Advocate pointed out in its reporting, there was nothing sexual about the letters — and Moms for Liberty consistently characterizes any mention of LGBTQ people in schools as “sexualization” of children.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has recognized Moms for Liberty — which falsely brands itself as a “parental rights” group — as an extremist organization that pushes a far right, anti-LGBTQ agenda.
“The social media accounts and real-world activity of the national organization and its chapters reflect views and actions that are antigovernment and conspiracy propagandist, anti-LGBTQ and anti-gender identity, and anti-inclusive curriculum,” the SPLC says on its website.
Moms for Liberty often uses extremist and white supremacist content to promote its views, including this past summer, when a chapter of the organization included a quote from Adolf Hitler in its newsletter.
Several advocacy groups have spoken out against Moms for Liberty and held protests at locations where the organization has had events, including at a Philadelphia museum earlier this year. Historians blasted the museum for granting the hate group a forum there.
“Moms for Liberty is an organization that has vigorously advocated censorship and harassment of history teachers, banning history books from libraries and classrooms, and legislation that renders it impossible for historians to teach with professional integrity without risking job loss and other penalties,” the American Historical Association, the largest professional organization of historians in the country, said of Moms for Liberty in June.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy