by Maggie Block

Self-proclaimed “joyful warriors” Moms for Liberty say on their website that their vision is “Americans empowered and thriving in a culture of Liberty.” Using imagery of children’s faces and describing themselves as “Moms, Dads, Grands, Aunts, Uncles, Friends,” Moms for Liberty paint themselves as a group of sweet-as-apple-pie PTA members just trying to protect America’s children. They project a vision of themselves that is hard (if not impossible) to object to, which is, of course, the point. They know they can use their (strategically not completely) white motherhood to mask their hatred of queer and BIPOC people by calling queer youth acceptance perversion and calling anti-racism hatred against white people. Nothing is more effective at making a hate group look reasonable than a well-put-together middle-class mother at the forefront crying about how deeply she wants to protect “the children.” Unlike the journalists who come dangerously close to treating Moms for Liberty as a neutral phenomenon, we should oppose the group’s efforts, not just when the books they target seem completely innocent, but also when they hold up more challenging books as self-evidently inappropriate.