PHILADELPHIA — The fireworks came early in Philadelphia on Thursday, with multiple protests sparking up in opposition to a three-day summit by the conservative and politically influential group Moms for Liberty.
At least nine protests have been planned over the next three days from groups like the National Parents Union, ACT UP Philadelphia, Invisible Philadelphia, and the Young Communist League.
BIDEN TRIES TO SHAKE LOW MARKS ON ECONOMY WITH 'BIDENOMICS' PUSH
At the first event, held in front of the Marriott hotel where the conference is taking place, protesters carried signs and gave out free banned books while a large black truck carrying an electronic black, red, and white billboard read: "Stop extremists and stop Moms for Liberty" while it slowly circled the hotel. Protesters carried homemade signs that read: "Moms 4 Liberty is destroying my school district" and "Must stop the bullies."
Heather Harding, executive director for the Campaign of Our Shared Future, a non-partisan initiative that advocates "access and inclusion" in K-12 education, told the Washington Examiner her group is "concerned about the un-American practice of banning books."
"We think that one of the results of the Moms for Liberty bans is the narrowing of the curriculum," she said. "One of the unfortunate outcomes of these bans is that many families are seeing their representation pulled back. Characters of color, authors of color, LGBTQ characters, and books about that are really being taken off the shelves."
Harding added that parents she has spoken to say they "want a full telling of the history of the country, and so we've got to stop this nonsense."
The books they were handing out Thursday afternoon included "A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo," a spoof by comedian John Oliver on the book written by former Vice President Mike Pence's wife, Karen, and his daughter Charlotte, about the family pet. In Oliver's book, the bunny is gay and marries another boy bunny.
Other books that were handed out included "Maus," a graphic novel and Pulitzer Prize winner, in which Maus recounts his father's experiences during the Holocaust, with Jews being drawn as wide-eyed mice and the Nazis as cats. Another popular book being handed out was "Call Me Max," a 2019 book about a young transgender boy's first few days of elementary school. Max was born a girl but identifies as a boy.
"Trampling on the rights of trans kids is not our definition of liberty," protester Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania, told the Washington Examiner. "We are here to promote supporting all students and the rights of LGBTQ youth, and we're concerned that the group that's gathered inside is focused on harming students."
In addition to other protests taking place around the city, a half-dozen scholarly groups, including the country's two largest associations of professional historians, have spoken out against Philadelphia's Museum of the American Revolution for agreeing to rent out space for a Moms for Liberty welcome event on Thursday.
The historians have called the move by the museum a dangerous normalization of an organization that they claim is trying to rewrite history, ban books, and block teachers from discussing race and gender in classrooms.
"Moms for Liberty is an organization that has vigorously advocated censorship. and harassment of history teachers, banning history from 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," according to a letter by the American Historical Society.
The group added that while Moms for Liberty has the right to argue for the way it wants its children to learn history, "Moms for Liberty has crossed a boundary in its attempts to silence and harass teachers, rather than participate in legitimate controversy."
The MFL event at the museum begins at 6 p.m., where participants will be able to "enjoy the museum, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar while mingling with Joyful Warriors from around the country. Tim Barton, president of WallBuilders, will be the special guest speaker. Barton, president of WallBuilders, a pro-family organization that "represents America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our religious, moral, and constitutional heritage."
Barton is the son of David Barton, who was labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2005 as one of the nation's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals" and who also has "spread the damaging idea that the separation of church and state is a myth. His historical writings have helped provide a respectable veneer for the rise of radical-right religious ideology over the past several decades."
Both Bartons and their Texas-based group are seen widely as political operatives and cultural warriors. They've "demonized LGBTQ persons and communities," while the elder Barton has argued that "HIV and AIDS are god-given consequences for living out one's LGBTQ life," according to SPLC.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Moms for Liberty has maintained that its group is not rooted in exclusion or racism and that it champions parental rights.
“We expect our national summit in Philadelphia to be a time of training and empowerment for parents to be more active in their child’s school system," MFL co-founder Tiffany Justice said. "We stand for the rights of parents and against anyone trying to silent parents who want to speak up on behalf of their child’s needs.”