Protest Planned For Moms For Liberty Manhattan Event

The New York Daily News reports:

Moms for Liberty, a right-wing national organization that got its start pushing back against COVID-era school policies, is looking for new footing in New York City’s most staunchly liberal borough. The conservative group, which has reportedly been losing influence across the country, announced on social media a Jan. 18 town hall at the Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

But condemnation was swift in the Democratic stronghold, where 85% of Manhattanites voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Social media users posted plans to buy tickets, only to skip the event and leave a band of empty seats in their wake. A chapter of Moms for Liberty launched last year in Queens, where support for right-leaning candidates is stronger than in Manhattan. It had 20 members as of the fall, chapter Chairwoman Elena Chin [photo] said.

Patch Upper East Side reports:

“While we recognize that free speech is a constitutional right, we have been disturbed at the rise of hate speech and divisive rhetoric that groups such as Mom for Liberty espouse,” wrote east side Council Members Julie Menin and Keith Powers in a joint letter Tuesday to the president of the Bohemian center, Joseph Balaz.

The letter urges the Bohemian center, which is owned by the Czech government, to reconsider hosting the group, which has been classified as a “far-right extremist organization” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

No town hall is listed on the venue’s website and representatives of the Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association did not respond to requests to confirm that the event was indeed booked.

From the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal:



Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice responded to harsh criticism from Manhattan’s borough president, who attacked the parental rights group ahead of a town hall-style event later this month. Mark Levine, the borough president, said Wednesday that Moms for Liberty “has no place here” after he learned about the event.

“This group is anti-LGBTQ, supports book bans, harasses teachers & school librarians, and has been labeled by the SPCLC as a ‘far right extremist organization,’” Levine wrote in a statement. “Manhattan is the home of Stonewall,” he added.

Justice responded by asking whether Levine would “like to join us” at the town hall. As for the claims that Moms for Liberty is “anti-LGBTQ,” Justice said one of the group’s top leaders is lesbian, the organization has gay chapter chairs, and some chapter chairs have gay kids.