Moms for Liberty has been told there is “no place’ for them in Manhattan. (Getty)
The Borough President of Manhattan, Mark Levine, has told Moms for Liberty that there is “no place for them” there or anywhere else in New York.
Levine called out the SPLC-designated extremist organisation online after the group announced plans to hold a town hall in Manhattan’s Upper East Side later this month.
Moms for Liberty is a conservative political organisation with over 300 local chapters across the United States that advocates against the mention of critical race theory, LGBTQ+ rights, and discrimination in books and school curriculums.
The group attempts to eradicate these topics from schools and libraries under the guise of “family values” and parental rights by infiltrating school boards with their members and spreading misinformation in person and online about how schools are supposedly “indoctrinating” children to be “woke” or LGBTQ+.
Levine pointed out that his borough was home to the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar that was the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which was rather contradictory to Moms For Liberty’s values.
In a statement posted to social media on Thursday (4 January), the politician said: “Moms for Liberty has announced they will be holding a town hall at a venue on the Upper East Side on Jan 18.
“This group is anti-LGBTQ+, supports book bans, harasses teachers & school librarians, and has been labeled by the @SPLCCenter a “far-right extremist organisation.”
“Manhattan is the home of Stonewall. We celebrate cultural diversity in our classrooms. We believe in books. M4L has no place here or any other part of NYC.”
In response to Levine’s statement, Moms for Liberty’s co-founder Tiffany Justice tweeted: ”Hi @MarkLevineNYC, would you like to join us?”
Justice later told The Daily Signal that she plans to go ahead with the town hall event in Manhattan, despite Levine’s warning.
In recent months, Moms for Liberty has been under increased scrutiny due to allegations made against both current and former members.
In December, the controversial group lost members when the husband of Moms for Liberty’s co-founder Bridget Ziegler was accused of rape. Christian Ziegler, the chair of Florida’s Republican Party, has denied the allegation and says that he and his wife Bridget engaged in consensual sex with the accusor over a year before the alleged rape occurred.
Shortly before that, Moms for Liberty came under fire when an investigation by The Philadelphia Inquirer determined that Phillip Fisher Jr, an outreach leader for the organisation in Philadelphia, is a convicted child sex offender. Fisher served three years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual abuse involving a 14-year-old boy.
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of sexual violence. If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.