It is the first full day of the inaugural Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors National Summit, and 500 such warriors are listening raptly as Florida governor Ron DeSantis delivers the keynote address. They fill tables in the grand ballroom of the Tampa Marriott, waving “Mamas for DeSantis” signs, and wearing T-shirts bearing the slogans “We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT” and “Stop woke indoctrination.” They jump to their feet and cheer when DeSantis, who is obviously considering a presidential run in 2024, brags about having stood up to Disney’s “leftism” and again when he refers to President Joe Biden as “Brandon blundering around every time you go get gas.”
The moms have been primed by a morning program that has been nothing short of a pep rally. First came a deluxe version of the national anthem, replete with an extra verse written by a Christian singer in 1986. A color guard of four teenagers looked on, flags, sabers, and rifles by their sides. A prayer followed, enlisting God in the fight against the scourge of progressivism in schools. When DeSantis finally took the stage, three Moms for Liberty leaders presented him with a bright blue sword, emblazoned with the group’s logo. “It is what the gladiators were rewarded with after they had fought a long, hard battle for freedom,” said co-founder Tina Descovich. “So this is a representation from all of us moms here in Florida and across the country that appreciate all you’ve done to stand up for parents’ rights.” Clutching the sword, DeSantis grinned at the crowd as the press at the back of the ballroom snapped pictures.
“Parents’ rights” is Moms for Liberty’s rallying cry. But they don’t mean every right. They’re decidedly unconcerned about a parent’s right to ensure that their gender nonconforming child is safe at school, for instance, or that their immunocompromised child is protected from Covid. Rather, the Moms for Liberty have mobilized around decidedly conservative concerns. They want to excise lessons on systemic racism, LGBTQ-friendly books, accommodations for transgender students, and Covid mitigations like vaccine and mask mandates. They want to defend the Second Amendment rights that have allowed school shooters to obtain weapons. They work toward these goals with an unflagging spirit of good cheer—hence the “joyful warriors” conference theme. “People want to be around joyful people,” one presenter said. “They don’t necessarily want to be around angry, screaming, yelling people, or it’s not going to grow.”
Moms for Liberty isn’t the only parents’ rights group that has coalesced around the culture wars in the last few years, but it’s one of the largest. Founded in early 2021, it now has more than 100,000 members in some 200 chapters across 40 states who consistently make national news for their extreme positions on education. In New Hampshire, a local chapter recently offered a $500 reward to the first person who caught an educator teaching about systemic racism. Last year, after Descovich lost her school board race in Brevard County, Florida, her opponent, Jennifer Jenkins, reported that protesters showed up at her house to accuse her of being a pedophile. “‘We’re coming for you,’ they yelled,” she wrote in a op-ed in October 2021. “‘We’re coming at you like a freight train! We are going to make you beg for mercy. If you thought January 6 was bad, wait until you see what we have for you!’” Someone anonymously reported her to the Department of Children and Families, falsely claiming that she had abused her 5-year-old daughter. “If there are differences of opinion about what’s fair for all students, I’m happy to discuss them,” she wrote. “But I have rights, too, and that includes the right to be free from harassment and assault.” (Co-founder Tiffany Justice denied
