Philadelphia’s Fourth of July celebrations won’t be the only event drawing crowds this weekend.
Around 650 people from around the country are coming to Philadelphia for Moms for Liberty’s annual summit, which begins Thursday and includes talks featuring former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among others.
Also expected during the four-day conference are hundreds – and perhaps thousands – of protesters, some traveling into Center City on chartered buses organized by national advocacy groups.
Moms for Liberty, which was founded in Florida two years ago, champions the rights of parents in public education and has sought to influence policy through school board elections. The organization claims to have nearly 300 chapters and 120,000 active members.
Earlier this month, the South Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, designated Moms for Liberty as an “anti-government extremist” organization that pushes to restrict LGBTQ rights in schools and pursues book bans and curriculum changes.
Tina Descovich, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty and former Florida school board member, rejected the SPLC label, referring to it as “absolutely ridiculous.” She arrived in Philadelphia earlier this week ahead of the summit.
“We’re just a bunch of moms – and a few dads and aunts and uncles and cousins – that are concerned about educational failure in America,” Descovich said Tuesday in an interview with Metro. “We’re concerned about the future of our kids and our country, and we just want to have a voice in this debate.”
Opponents contend that Moms for Liberty hides behind its name and a vague notion of parental rights to push far-right messages and remove educational content related to systemic racism and LGBTQ issues.
“We believe that they are trafficking in bigotry, fear and hatred, particularly towards LGBT people and people of color, to seize control of school districts across the country,” said Svante Myrick, president and CEO of People for the American Way, one of several groups organizing demonstrations to coincide with the summit.
Jazmyn Henderson, of ACT UP Philadelphia, compared the group’s tactics toward the transgender community to the Nazis during the Holocaust. “They’re using different rhetoric and different language, but it’s pretty much the same thing,” added Henderson, a trans woman.
Moms for Liberty made headlines last week when an Indiana chapter apologized after quoting Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler on the front cover of its newsletter.
A coalition of national and local advocacy organizations are set to host near-constant demonstrations Friday through Sunday outside the Marriott hotel located at 12th and Filbert streets, where the bulk of the summit is being held.
Among the planned activities are a banned book giveaway, a drag queen storytelling session and dance parties.
Defense of Democracy, a group initially formed in upstate New York to counter Moms for Liberty, is bringing shuttle buses from Buffalo and Durham, North Carolina.
ACT UP is organizing a protest Thursday beginning around 5 p.m. outside the Museum of the American Revolution, which is the venue for the conference’s opening reception.
Lawmakers, activists and historians have called on MOAR to cancel the private, after-hours event.
“Hosting a hate group at the Museum of the American Revolution sends the message that the museum endorses these views,” six state senators from Philadelphia wrote in a letter last week to the museum’s president and CEO, Scott Stephenson.
In a statement, a museum spokesperson said that “rejecting visitors on the basis of ideology would in fact be antithetical to our purpose.” They added that staff concerned about the event will be accommodated.
Petitions have also targeted Marriott for hosting the summit. The hotel chain did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“I think it’s really unfortunate and quite sad when elected leaders want to silence part of the electorate,” Descovich said.
Moms for Liberty has advised members not to engage with protesters. The organization has hired a private security team for the conference, according to its website, which also includes a link to Pennsylvania’s concealed carry laws.
A spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration said the city “will prioritize the safety of participants and members of the public and protect the constitutional rights of all individuals without regard to the views expressed by any groups that choose to demonstrate or protest.”
