Philadelphia museum faces backlash for hosting group with ‘oppressive views’
Historians, civil rights organizations and lawmakers are denouncing the Museum of the American Revolution for hosting an upcoming event with Moms for Liberty, a controversial campaign organization that has been called an extremist group by critics.
Moms for Liberty (M4L), which the anti-hate watchdog Southern Poverty Law Center labeled as an extremist, anti-government group, will hold a summit in Philadelphia this weekend featuring several Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. In a decision that has generated widespread backlash, the Museum of the American Revolution has agreed to host a welcome event for the organization on Thursday.
Despite M4L purporting to champion parental rights in education, numerous civil rights organizations have condemned the group for its “oppressive views”, and its attempts to ban books as well as restrict classroom conversations on race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Earlier this week, the American Historical Association (AHA) sent a letter to the Museum of the American Revolution’s president, R Scott Stephenson, voicing its opposition to the museum’s decision to host the group and urging him to reconsider.
“Moms for Liberty is an organization that has vigorously advocated censorship and harassment of history teachers, banning history books from libraries and classrooms, and legislation that renders it impossible for historians to teach with professional integrity without risking job loss and other penalties,” the letter said.
“For the AHA, this isn’t about politics or different understandings of our nation’s past; it’s about an organization whose mission is to obstruct the professional responsibilities of historians,” the AHA added.
The Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History echoed similar sentiments in a statement, saying: “The Committee on LGBT History condemns the decision made by the Museum of the American Revolution to rent event space to Moms for Liberty … This organization consistently spreads harmful, hateful rhetoric about the LGBTQIA+ community, including popularizing the use of the term ‘groomer’ to refer to queer people and attacking the mere existence of trans youth. Giving Moms for Liberty a space to share their extremist, antiLGBTQIA rhetoric is irresponsible and dangerous.”
“It is shocking that an organization dedicated to documenting and preserving American history would enter into any relationship with an organization that is so intent upon distorting the American experience,” it added.
In an op-ed published in Philadelphia Gay News, Naiymah Sanchez, the senior organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Pennsylvania
branch, wrote: “My suggestion for this group: DON’T COME TO PHILLY.”
“Banning books and outlawing trans people does not make schools safer or society any better. And such hateful policies are a far cry from fighting for ‘liberty’,” Sanchez added.
Several lawmakers denounced the museum, with six Democratic senators penning a letter to Stephenson, asking him to cancel the upcoming event.
“Moms for Liberty, put plainly, is a hate group … It is essential for cultural institutions, like the Museum of the American Revolution, to carefully consider the impact and implications of the organizations they choose to host,” they wrote.
A handful of museum employees have also voiced their opposition to the museum’s decision.
In a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer, despite Stephenson telling employees that they were not required to work that night if they did not feel safe, assistant curator Trish Norman said: “I don’t feel appreciated nor safe anymore.”
“I don’t feel the museum necessarily has my back,” Norman, who is nonbinary, added.
Bee Reed, another museum employee who identifies as an LGBTQ+ community member, told Philadelphia Gay News: “I have very mixed feelings. I’ve been working for the museum for four or five years now, and I’ve always been grateful to work someplace that has been so supportive of me as a queer person. But with this – I feel a great sense of betrayal.”
Comments criticizing the museum’s decision have also flooded the museum’s Instagram page.
The museum defended its decision in a statement, saying: “The Museum of the American Revolution strives to create an inclusive and accessible museum experience for visitors with a wide range of viewpoints and beliefs … Because fostering understanding within a democratic society is so central to our mission, rejecting visitors on the basis of ideology would in fact be antithetical to our purpose.”
This is not the first time Moms for Liberty sparked controversy. Last week, an Indiana chapter of the group prompted swift backlash after it published a quote from Adolf Hitler in its inaugural newsletter.