On the second day of the Republican National Convention, I made my way back to Milwaukee’s symphony hall to attend a town hall hosted by the conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty. This wasn’t my first Moms for Liberty event—I’ve attended the annual summits for the past two years. Back in 2022, Betsy DeVos, who served as former President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, delivered the line that got the loudest applause. “While I know that everything we did was with the interest of kids in mind and policies that would really give as much power back to the states and local communities as we possibly could,” she said, “I personally think the Department of Education should not exist.”
At the time, that statement felt a little bit edgy—like DeVos was saying the quiet part out loud. But two years later at yesterday’s event, many of the panelists expressed that same sentiment as a a foregone conclusion. “The fundamental problem that we have in the United States was the creation of the federal Department of Education,” Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) told the crowd of maybe 400 or so mostly white women. In his remarks, erstwhile GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy said, “We’re not just going to reform the Department of Education, it means we’re going to get there and actually shut it down.”
Does that mean that a ragtag group of moms single handedly turned the abolition of a behemoth government agency into a run-of-the-mill conservative talking point? Not exactly. On that issue and many others, Moms for Liberty has had a major assist from powerful conservative groups that share their goals—and are shaping the Republican agenda for 2024.
Founded in 2021 by three former school board members in Florida, Moms for Liberty rode the rising tide of anti-mask sentiment in the tumultuous year after schools were closed during the pandemic. The group’s leaders capitalized on the backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement after the murder of George Floyd. In fact, Moms for Liberty was one of the most prominent early groups to criticize the teaching of ant-racist curriculum in schools, which they incorrectly referred to as “critical race theory.” The group also vociferously opposed LGBTQ-inclusive lessons, and its members led campaigns to rid classrooms and school libraries of books deemed inappropriate.
Over time, Moms for Liberty grew in both membership and influence. Today, the group counts 130,000 members across chapters in 48 states. The organization groomed some members to run for local school boards, gradually expanding their influence throughout communities. Last year, all of the Republican presidential candidates, including former president Donald Trump, spoke at their annual conference in Pennsylvania.
In its marketing, Moms for Liberty comes off as a group of like-minded people, mostly women, who all happened to come together because of a shared concern for children. Founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Deskovich, the website says, are just a couple of “moms on a mission to stoke the fires of liberty.” But as I’ve previously reported, the organization’s connections to the Republican party run deep. Its conferences have been sponsored by the GOP training group the Leadership Institute and the conservative powerhouse think tank the Heritage Foundation. Earlier this week, after the RNC Heritage Foundation event, Moms for Liberty national director Catalina Stubbe told me that her group is “very close friends” with Heritage, which was one of the sponsors of today’s event, and whose president Kevin Roberts spoke on one of the panels.
Considering the group’s cozy relationship with Heritage, the RNC town hall panelists’ focus on abolishing the US Department of Education shouldn’t be surprising. Project 2025, the 920-page conservative policy roadmap that Heritage spearheaded, calls for the complete elimination of the Department of Education, along with the codification of parents’ rights laws similar to those in Florida, which strictly limit teachers’ use of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum and books.
After the event, I spoke to Lydia Dominguez, a Moms for Liberty member running for school board in Clark County, Nevada. Dominguez, the mother of two teenage boys, told me that she believed schools “are being oversaturated by national agendas.” What kinds of national agendas? I asked. “They’re having CNN in the classroom,” she said. “They’re pushing national topics such as the transgender topics, sexualized content.”
————— She believed schools “are being oversaturated by national agendas…They’re having CNN in the classroom,” she said. “They’re pushing national topics such as the transgender topics, sexualized content.” —————
Monica Kepes serves as the secretary of a Moms for Liberty chapter in Washington County, Wisconsin. “I think the big bureaucratic institutions are instituting a lot of stuff that comes down through the education system,” she said. “I think the bigger you get, the more power there is, the more chance corruption and all that kind of stuff.”
At Moms for Liberty’s upcoming 2024 summit, which will take place next month in Washington, DC, it seems unlikely that the group will be able to muster a repeat performance of the star-studded speaker roster from last year. So far, this year’s list appears to be a grab bag of not especially famous ultra-conservative pundits, C-list comedians, and culture warriors. One reason for this lackluster lineup could be the fallout from a series of scandals in 2023. A group from a chapter in Kentucky posedfor a photo with the white nationalist group the Proud Boys. (Those members were later removed from the group.) Last year, a chapter leader in Indiana quoted Hitler in a newsletter. On the last evening of the annual summit a few months later, Justice, the co-founder, said in a speech, “One of our moms in a newsletter quotes Hitler…I stand with that mom!”
Butthe most damaging setbackcame in late 2023, when Christian Ziegler, chair of the Florida GOP, was accused of raping and illegally filming a woman who had been involved in a sexual relationship with him and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, a founding member of Moms for Liberty. As I wrote at the time, the situation was especially awkward because Ziegler helped craft Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” parents’ rights law, which forbids teachers in the state from talking about same-sex relationships. “The irony is crazy because you have this woman and her husband who are so concerned with preventing children from hearing anything that doesn’t totally align with their values,” one Florida mom told me at the time. “And then it’s like, I’m having to explain a three-way to a 12-year-old this week.” (Christian Ziegler has been cleared of rape charges; in March, the Florida state attorney’s office declined to criminally charge him for illegally filming the sexual encounter because of insufficient evidence.)
Unsurprisingly, no one mentioned the sex scandal (or any of the other ones) at the town hall event. But on one panel, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took a victory lap about a bill Ziegler helped to create. “It used to be…you didn’t have to worry about your kid going to kindergarten and being told that they should change their gender,” he said. “We put the kibosh on that in Florida—we said, ‘We are not going to be indulging in things like gender ideology in our schools.’” The crowd whooped with approval.
The Republican Party seems to agree. Its official platform, released last week, calls for funding cuts for schools that embrace “woke” policies like LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. This serves as a reminder that even though Moms for Liberty’s star appears to have dimmed over the past year, the reverberations from its movement will be felt for years to come. Moms for Liberty, cofounder Tina Descovich told the crowd, “is here to fight, fight, fight, and win, win, win.” She paused. “And winning we are.”
I did not post the full X / tweets about Kamal nor about Pete because they are exceedingly racist, bigoted and crude, a typical maga response to anything not straight cis white. I am sick of these people that tRump enabled and the sooner we beat tRump soundly and put his people back under their rocks they crawled out from for good the better for the US. But seriously if this racist bigotry is the best they can do, we already won. Hugs. Scottie
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For a lot of conservatives, all they can say about Kamala Harris are gross, sexist comments.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with D.L. Hughley highlighting how the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to advance economic opportunity by improving access to housing, creating jobs and investing in small businesses as part of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour on Thursday May 16, 2024 at Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wis.Photo: Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via IMAGN
Republican Missouri secretary of state candidate Valentina Gomez just went on an unhinged rant attacking Vice President Kamala Harris on X, where she called her a “little wh*re,” as conservatives posted misogynist memes and jokes about Harris.
“Kamala Harris slept her way to the top, and Tulsi Gabbard already destroyed and exposed her in 2020. Kamala is just another DEI hire, and President Trump is going to eat her alive,” she said in a video.
She could become president. Here’s a closer look at her history on LGBTQ+ stances.
“Kamala Haris is a little wh*re,” Gomez wrote when posting her video. [Update: The X post was put on “limited” visibility by X on July 22, 2024, hours after this article was published.]
The comment regarding Harris allegedly having sex to advance her career, alongside the “little wh*re” comment, reflects recent bouts of misogyny against the vice president in an attempt to discredit her. Harris is the first woman to ever be vice president of the United States and could be the first woman president of the country.
The claim has also notably been spread by far-right figurehead Matt Walsh, who said on X, “Kamala Harris got her start in politics by sleeping with Willie Brown. She became Vice President because Biden needed a non-white female on the ticket… She’s made a career out of begging for hand outs from powerful men. A thoroughly unimpressive human being.”
These claims refer to a short relationship Harris had with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown 30 years ago, before he became mayor. There is no evidence that she only had a relationship with him to bolster her career. In a Reuters fact check, both Harris and Brown disputed that this relationship led anywhere and instead regarded it as largely irrelevant.
Other users attacked her as a “side chick” of Brown, referring to the fact that Brown was technically married during his time dating Harris. However, Brown was separated from his wife, making this claim misleading at best.
Other conservatives, though, just posted gross memes about Harris that sexualized her, showing both sexism and misogynoir, or the combination of sexism and racism directed at Black women.
This is seen with one post comparing Harris to the “Hawk Tuah” girl, someone known in a viral meme about engaging in fellatio.
One X user continued these claims, referring to her as “arm candy” for reality TV show host Montel Williams. The two briefly dated in 2001, however Williams has said since that he has “great respect for Sen. Harris.”
Right-wing commentator Konstantin Kisin referred to her as a “vagina of colour,” and another user referred to her and out Transportation Secretary – and possible running mate – Pete Buttigieg as the “blowjob ticket,” reflecting both misogyny and homophobia.
One political cartoonist made a comic of Harris giving fellatio to the Washington Monument, while another user made a post suggesting Harris wants to perform sexual acts on enough voters to get elected.
Another user documented multiple accounts making memes of Harris engaging in sexual acts to various different presidential logos.
Once prominent and now largely forgotten alt-right icon and “ex-gay troll” Milo Yiannopoulos made a post encouraging people to rely on him for objectification of Harris.
The attacks against Harris have been reflected in merchandise made about her. One shirt being sold says “Joe and the Hoe Gotta Goe,” a slogan that’s parroted in other right-wing merchandise that, while not officially endorsed by the GOP, has nevertheless been prominent among the Republican voter base
Gomez’s claim about former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-HI) attacking Harris is rooted in an old political debate where Gabbard criticized Harris’s history as California’s attorney general, pointing out her thousands of convictions of people who used cannabis. Additionally, Gabbard criticized Harris’s handling of people on death row, alleging that Harris could have done much more to protect innocent individuals.
This claim reflects the widespread public concern about Harris’s history as a prosecutor with many likening the candidate to a corrupt police officer. This is further reflected in criticism about her denying a trans woman gender-affirming care while in prison. She has since walked back on this decision.
Nevertheless, the misogyny reflected among right-wing criticisms largely ignores any critiques of her policy positions and instead aims to reflect on her sexual and romantic history. This neglects her substance as a person and a candidate and swipes aside any debates about her merit as a candidate. Notably, these types of posts are rarely directed at male candidates.
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the FGCU Kapnick Education and Research Center in Naples on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.Photo: Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK
While Republican lawmakers have repeatedly failed to pass legislation to prevent transgender people from updating their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity, the state has nonetheless been denying requests from both trans adults and minors to do so for the past year.
According to The 19th, since last year, trans minors and adults in the state have received letters from the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics denying their requests for amended birth certificates even when all their other government-issued ID documents reflect their gender identity and despite the fact that they have provided documentation of their gender transition that has previously been accepted.
In one March 2024 letter reviewed by the outlet, the agency said that documentary evidence provided by the applicant “does not establish that the sex identifier on the birth record contains a misstatement, error, or omission.”
Another from August 2023 said that for trans minors, “documentary evidence established prior to the child’s seventh birthday is required,” while a separate letter says that trans adults must provide documentation “established prior to the registrant’s 18th birthday.” As The 19th notes, for many trans people who were either unaware of or still figuring out their gender identity or were unable to access gender-affirming care as children, either requirement would be nearly impossible to provide.
Simone Chriss, an attorney with Florida-based Southern Legal Counsel (SLC), told The 19th that of the around 80 clients she has worked with since August 2023 who have appealed the agency’s denials, none have been able to obtain an amended birth certificate reflecting their gender identity. Most of her clients’ appeals, she said, “are just being ignored.”
“I’ve filed many,” said Chriss, who is also the director of SLC’s transgender rights initiative. “There’s at least five that I have pending at this moment that the department hasn’t responded to.”
Since 2018, trans Floridians have been able to provide documentation from a doctor showing that they have received gender-affirming care in order to get their birth certificates updated to reflect their gender identity. Before that, only trans people who could provide proof of gender-affirming surgery could qualify for an amended document.
In 2023, Florida Republicans tried to pass a bill that would have banned the state from changing gender markers on birth certificates. Another bill, introduced earlier this year, would have required state IDs and licenses to reflect a person’s sex assigned at birth. Both pieces of legislation failed to pass.
But that has not stopped state agencies from denying trans people updated documents. In a January letter, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FHSMV) deputy executive director Robert Kynoch rescinded the agency’s previous policy allowing individuals to correct the gender markers on their driver’s licenses after transitioning.
“The term ‘gender’… does not refer to a person’s internal sense of his or her gender role of identification, but has historically and commonly been understood as a synonym for ‘sex,’ which is determined by innate and immutable biological and genetic characteristics,” Kynoch’s letter read in part. Allowing people to alter their licenses based on gender identity, he wrote, “undermines the purpose of an identification record and can frustrate the state’s ability to enforce its laws.”
“Misrepresenting one’s gender, understood as sex, on a driver license constitutes fraud,” the letter continued, “and subjects an offender to criminal and civil penalties, including cancellation, suspension, or revocation of his or her driver license.”
As The 19th notes, the department’s rule was not prompted by any legislation. Similarly, the Florida health department’s Bureau of Vital Statistics’ denials of trans people’s requests for amended birth certificates do not reflect any new state law, and have resulted in trans Floridians spending hundreds of dollars to obtain previously accepted documentation only to have their requests denied.
As Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson noted in a statement following Kynoch’s January letter, policies denying trans people documents that reflect their gender identity result in their being outed “anywhere they use a driver’s license or identification document,” potentially subjecting them to harassment, discrimination, or worse.
Southern Legal Counsel’s Chriss told The 19th that the organization plans to challenge the state’s birth certificate policy in federal court.
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On the first day of the Republican National Convention, prominent Republicans used their national platform to target transgender people. This signals that the party is not abandoning its efforts to curtail transgender and LGBTQ+ rights if they gain power in the next election. This comes after the vice presidential running mate pick of JD Vance, the lead author of a Senate bill that would institute a national ban on transgender youth care and bar all medical schools from teaching about transgender care, including adult trans care.
The most prominent figure to use her platform to attack transgender people was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene criticized Transgender Day of Visibility for falling on the same day as Easter Sunday in 2024. Notably, Easter Sunday is a moving holiday, while Transgender Day of Visibility has always been held on March 31. There have been more Transgender Days of Visibility on that date than Easter Sundays since America was founded.
“They promised normalcy and gave us Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday,” Greene said to raucous boos. “And let me state this clearly: There are only two genders, and we are made in God’s image,” she continued.
Video at link above
Many on X (formerly Twitter) questioned the statement and its implications for the nature of God’s gender. Vinny Thomas, a user on the platform, pointed out, “‘There are only two genders and we are made in God’s image’ is so fascinating because what exactly are you saying about God’s gender?”
Representative John James from Michigan also joined in, using some of his time to target transgender women in sports and changing rooms. “Our daughters were sold on hope, and now they are being forced onto the playing fields and into the changing rooms of biological males. America was sold on hope, and now the world is on fire,” Rep. James continued.
Senator Ron Johnson joined in with his speech, calling LGBTQ+ inclusive education, sports participation, and inclusion “sexual indoctrination,” and stating that it was an attack on American values. “This fringe agenda includes biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children,” he said to boos. He continued, “Today’s Democrat agenda, their policies, are a clear and present danger to our institutions, our values, and our people.”
Video at link above
One of the “everyday Americans” chosen to speak at the Republican National Convention, Linda Fornos, was the last to target transgender people. In a speech that fell rather flat with little reaction, she questioned children learning pronouns in schools. Many correctly pointed out that pronouns have always been part of an English education.
Video at link above
The willingness to lean into anti-LGBTQ+ policies on the first day of the Republican National Convention may seem puzzling. Attacks on LGBTQ+ people have faltered in 2024 compared with 2023, with far fewer laws passing. Several states that had targeted trans people in previous years, such as Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, and Kansas, failed to pass anti-LGBTQ+ policies this year, despite over 80 bills proposed in those states targeting the community. In many elections where anti-trans policies were a major issue, the Republican Party suffered setbacks: 70% of Moms for Liberty and Project 1776 candidates lost their races in 2023. Other losses Republicans have suffered on this issue occurred in the Virginia legislature elections, the Arizona Governor’s race, the Michigan legislature elections, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, the Walker-Warnock Senate race, and in dozens more places. Furthermore, recent polling from Gallup, Navigator, and the LA Times indicates fading public support for such laws, with huge majorities of respondents seeing them as a distraction and opposing bans on trans youth care.
Still, Trump’s selection of Senator JD Vance as his running mate indicates that he and the Republican Party have not backed off from this issue. Vance notably was the primary sponsor of a Senate bill to bar all trans care for trans youth nationwide. His bill would also bar secondary educational institutions, including medical schools, from teaching gender-affirming care for any age. Trump himself has called for investigations of hormone therapy manufacturers, bans on LGBTQ+ inclusive policies in schools, and targeting transgender people “at any age.”
As the Republican National Convention unfolds, the stage is set for a parade of speakers with deep-rooted anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ records. For LGBTQ+ people, these are not just rhetorical threats but a potential harbinger of laws that could be passed over the next four years. LGBTQ+ people will therefore likely be especially tuned in over the remaining nights.
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On Tuesday Night, the Teamsters Union posted a tweet criticizing President Sean O’Brien over anti-trans article endorsement. This comes after O’Brien spoke at the RNC, a first for the union.
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On Monday evening, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien made history by speaking at the Republican National Convention—the first time a Teamsters Union President has ever done so. The move, however, didn’t come without controversy. Union Vice President John Palmer called the decision “unconscionable.”
O’Brien then stirred more debate by tweeting in support of an article by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, which criticized corporate initiatives supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and transgender workers. The situation then erupted when the official Teamsters Twitter account posted a statement condemning O’Brien’s endorsement, which was swiftly deleted.
“Unions gain nothing from endorsing the racist, misogynistic, and anti-trans politics of the far right, no matter how much people like Sen. Hawley attempt to tether such bigotry to a cynical pro-labor message. The message this sends to Teamsters of color, Teamster women, and LGBTQ Teamsters is that they are not welcome in the union unless they surrender their identity to a new kind of anti-woke unionism. You don’t unite a diverse working class by scoffing at its diversity,” said the now deleted tweet.
O’Brien’s support for Hawley’s views received swift backlash. “We get it. He promised you Secretary of Labor,” read a response by transgender writer Parker Molloy.
“If you’re a Teamster of color, are LGBTQ+, Sean O’Brien has just said he doesn’t give a fuck about you,” said the Daily Union Elections account.
“Scab,” said American journalist and labor activist Talia Jane.
O’Brien’s speech at the RNC puzzled many observers. He used the platform to advocate for unions while also praising Donald Trump, calling him “one tough SOB.” Throughout much of the speech, the applause was tepid to nonexistent. Reports even indicated that at least one audience member shouted “right to work,” reflecting anti-union sentiments in the Republican Party.
Meanwhile, other labor union leaders were critical of O’Brien’s appearance at the RNC. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, responded, “Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bosses’ side… We won’t be fooled.” These critiques were echoed by members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and other union leaders.
Even John Palmer, the Teamsters Vice President, weighed in: “A speaking engagement at the Republican National Convention by Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, regardless of the message, only normalizes and makes the most anti-union party and president I’ve seen in my lifetime seem palatable.”
O’Brien’s support for a senator’s explicitly anti-diversity and anti-LGBTQ+ views runs contrary to Teamsters Union’s official documents and policies. One document on the Teamsters website states, “We are pro-union and pro-equality. In keeping with the labor movement motto, ‘an injury to one is an injury to all,’ we support a strong and progressive labor movement that promotes full equality and respect for LGBTQ workers and their families.”
The Teamsters president’s participation and apparent endorsement of anti-trans and anti-queer politics from the Republican Party could signal a profound betrayal to LGBTQ+ workers, who depend on union protections for their safety and rights. As the Teamsters Union remains silent on its presidential endorsement, the stakes have never been higher for those workers impacted by Republican policies. LGBTQ+ union members are left with the question of whether or not their rights will be bartered away for political favor with a party that has repeatedly positioned itself against their very existence.
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Humanitarian groups are considering a mass vaccination campaign for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after traces of variant poliovirus type 2 were found in water sources in the war-torn territory. The disease was detected in six locations in Gaza, the World Health Organization said.
Geneva-based WHO said it was working with partners – including UNICEF and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – to conduct a risk assessment. Polio vaccination rates in Gaza before the war were “optimal,” according to the organization.
Israel on Sunday confirmed the resurgence of the virus, which can be spread by contaminated water and direct person-to-person contact, and said it would offer booster shots to its soldiers operating in and around the Gaza Strip.
Poliovirus has been detected in samples of sewage water in Gaza, placing “thousands” of Palestinians at risk of contracting the highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis https://t.co/foPyQihGcPpic.twitter.com/oWv6n9GPqc
Moms for Liberty co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany JusticePhoto: YouTube clip
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with D.L. Hughley highlighting how the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to advance economic opportunity by improving access to housing, creating jobs and investing in small businesses as part of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour on Thursday May 16, 2024 at Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wis.Photo: Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via IMAGN
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the FGCU Kapnick Education and Research Center in Naples on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.Photo: Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK
