Outrage Builds Over UES 'Moms For Liberty' Event

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An upcoming town hall by a right-wing group known for book banning and hateful rhetoric — as well as their own recent sex scandals — continues to draw outrage from Upper East Side leaders and residents.

The group "Moms for Liberty" is planning their first New York City town hall, with a Jan. 18 event at the typically apolitical Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association on East 73rd Street.

But Upper East Siders and others in Manhattan were quick to condemn the group's presence on the island and are hoping for the otherwise beloved venue to reconsider hosting what they called a "divisive" organization.

"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.

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.

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.

"The group has pursued regressive book bans, aggressively targeted LGBTQ students and teachers, and parroted numerous conspiracy theories," the neighboring local lawmakers wrote. "Their social media is filled with disturbing posts wishing violence on opponents, promoting doxxing campaigns, and more."

After a story written by far-right chronicler and independent reporter Talia Jane was published on Upper East Site Friday, Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright wrote on the website formerly known as Twitter that she "strongly" condemns "this group's hateful anti-LGBT and racist views that endanger people and urge the venue to reconsider hosting them."

Rep. Jerry Nadler commented that "despite their catchy name, Moms for Liberty is nothing more than an alt-right hate group vilifying the LGBTQ+ community."

City Council Member Erik Bottcher, who has been the target of bigoted anti-LGBTQ extremists in the past year, said that the group stands for "ignorance, prejudice, narrow mindedness, and whitewashing history."

"When will the bigots learn that New Yorkers are not interested in their lies, hate-mongering and scare tactics?" Bottcher wrote in a statement to Patch. "I know my fellow New Yorkers will see through this charade and reject all they stand for.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal publicly asked the Czech Prime Minister to reconsider the booking.

"Manhattan is the home of Stonewall. We celebrate cultural diversity in our classrooms. We believe in books," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine posted. "M4L has no place here or any other part of NYC."

Allen Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, one of the city's largest LGBTQ political clubs, had a blunter message for the Moms.

"They should just go away," Roskoff said. "Homophobia and bigotry is not welcome here. Their views will not play well in Manhattan."

Upper East Sider and former City Council candidate Chris Sosa said he couldn't believe that the Bohemian Center was hosting the group.

"I know Moms for Liberty stands in opposition to the host venue's organizational values, so I can only assume the booking was made due to improper vetting," Sosa tweeted. "Moms for Liberty has the legal right to be horrible and say repugnant things. That doesn't mean we have to be the ones handing them a microphone."

Moms for Liberty, a self-described Florida-based "parental rights" organization, grew from a reaction to COVID-era school lockdowns and proceeded to stake claims in the culture war by declaring jihad against reading books the group declared as too titillating or dangerous.

Acclaimed young adult author Judy Blume called the group's book bans "fascist."

The group funneled money to school board candidates around the country to push their far-right Christian ideology, with many winning seats in the normally sleepy local races.

But 2023 was not a great year for the group, with founder Bridget Ziegler rocked by an increasingly disturbing sex scandal involving herself, her husband and another woman — despite her group's hard-nosed crusade to restrict any discussion of sexuality and gender in schools — and a remarkable electoral losing streak in the most recent set of races nationwide.

Ziegler herself was asked to resign from her position on the Sarasota School Board in December.

The group does not have a major presence in New York City, with a Queens chapter that only opened months ago.

Another organization with some similarly, though not as extreme, conservative views on education policy called Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, or PLACE, is often compared to Moms for Liberty.

While PLACE is more focused on testing and other issues than banning books, they have been cited for, like Moms for Liberty, bringing national education battles to the city. This year, the group endorsed 115 winning candidates for the city's Community Education Council back in June, or about 40 percent of the total members, according to Chalkbeat.

So far, the Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association nor the Czech Embassy have replied to messages and requests for comment on the event.

"If the Hall doesn't respond swiftly to the situation of which they've now been made aware," said Sosa, "I'll be shocked and disappointed. But the Hall has been a good neighbor for years and I have no reason to believe they won't do the right thing."