Today several Tampa Bay teachers gathered outside of the first national Moms For Liberty summit in Downtown Tampa to protest the group's right-wing agenda in public schools.
They waved signs in front of the Water Street Marriott as Governor Ron DeSantis gave a speech to an enthralled crowd inside for the summit, which runs until Sunday. Another protest is planned for Saturday, July 16.
DeSantis, with the support of groups like Moms for Liberty, has passed laws that seek to censor teachers in classrooms, including what critics called the "Don't Say Gay" bill and the "Stop WOKE" act.
Brandt Robinson teaches African American History and World History at Dunedin High School where the governor graduated in 1997. He said that lies are being told about teachers by both DeSantis and Moms for Liberty.
"They've repeated these false claims that we're trying to indoctrinate our students and teach them to hate America through using this label of critical race theory," Robinson, who has been a teacher for 25 years, said. "They use that term to label anything that remotely has to do with racism, racial injustice, systemic racism, or now even training for teachers in subjects like equity."
As Robinson spoke, Orlando lawyer Jeff Childers, a member of Moms For Liberty’s advisory board, was inside on a panel and telling the ballroom, “Our adversaries, it's not just that they don't care about our children. I believe they're actively trying to harm our children.”
Robinson was joined by several other teachers from Pinellas County who said they've been made to teach in an environment of fear and intimidation, including JJ Barbosa, who teaches middle school in Pinellas.
Barbosa is in her second year of teaching, and finds Florida's teaching environment hostile and unwelcoming.
"I live with just being afraid that one thing I say in the classroom might be taken out of context, and I'm also really afraid for my LGBTQ students," Barbosa said. "I've worked so hard to create a safe space for them to have that ruined because of the fear of don't say gay, I just can't fathom what will happen next."
And that's what all the teachers truly feared, is what will happen next semester.
Alyssa Knight, who also teaches middle school in Pinellas, says that she’s most worried about what might happen to students' ability to learn all that they're supposed to in school.
"We should be opening up all possibilities to them to open up their own minds, not trying to tell them what they should think, and that's what the governor and groups like Moms For Liberty are trying to do," she said. "They're trying to limit what they can learn."
Brian Pellman teaches kindergarten in Hillsborough County and said that he luckily works for a school that is sensitive to the censorship going on, but he realizes it will affect other teachers and other people. He thinks Moms For Liberty and DeSantis want to "squash public education as we know it."
"Ultimately, they want to create enough disruption and confusion in the school district, to where teachers don't know what can get them fired," Pellman said. "So a teacher can mess up really easily, until there's a vacuum and then ultimately, they just want to have all these evangelicals slime their way right into these influential spots, and get rid of public school funding altogether."
All of the teachers CL pointed out Florida’s massive teacher shortage and the subpar pay that teachers receive—real problems that need to be addressed, rather than fabricated issues and culture wars.
Inside, DeSantis gave his rambling gossipy speech to an enthralled crowd after being presented a "Liberty Sword" by Moms For Liberty. Co-founder Tina Descovisch explained that it represented a Rudis sword—which was given to Roman slaves when they won battles to the death.
"You know, I got sued by the teachers union," DeSantis said during his speech, referencing his push to force open schools in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, as people were dying of COVID-19 in high amounts. "They wanted to close the schools, but I'll tell you, most of the teachers throughout the state wanted to go back to school, too, and they deserve credit for that."
The teachers outside did not agree with DeSantis, and said that he has time and again threatened their safety by his actions.
Moms for Liberty refers to themselves as "joyful warriors" and constantly uses war references when discussing American schooling—a few teachers outside confirmed that this kind of language made them feel unsafe in their own classrooms.
Inside the summit, signs reading “We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT” were scattered around the hotel lobby, meanwhile groups of parents thanked the many law enforcement officers who were present at the event for "protecting their children."
Meanwhile, Childers almost called cops lazy after responding to a question about the FBI.
"So I was gonna say cops are lazy, but let me say people are lazy," he said when explaining that any mom who gets approached by the FBI is not required to talk to federal agents. "Right, including law enforcement personnel, including FBI agents, and the easiest way for them to prove their case is through getting you to admit something.
According to Moms For Liberty's Twitter page, the organization has grown to 200 chapters in 37 states, with over 95,000 members since January of 2021. But scholars point out that the group is not as grassroots as it presents itself to be thanks to help from political operatives and funding from right wing groups.
“Two of Moms for Liberty’s National Summit sponsors, the Leadership Institute and Heritage Foundation are critical members of the Council for National Policy, a secretive network of right wing billionaires and Christian fundamentalist leaders that underwrites and coordinates right wing politics,” Maurice T. Cunningham former associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, wrote.
Forbes said the group is “operated by professional communications folks and seasoned political operatives.”
Since its beginning, the organization has often targeted trans youth. In a June 13 tweet, the organization called the increasing number of transgender youth a "transgender contagion" and encouraged parents to "fight" it.
In his Friday panel talk, right-wing hero James Lindsay went on a screed, “generative themes,” drag queen bingo, “sexual weirdo” kids, and the “groomer” tendancies of Disney films.
“They are actively going after to harm to our children,” Lindsay added, suggesting that “new values” are being deployed “to support an ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance scoring for financing and investment] driven world.”
The group is heavily religious, and this morning opened their service with a prayer that called for God to give the group “zeal to wage war with sufficient grace in our purpose to sustain parental rights."
