Shadowy Summit: Hush-Hush Meeting to Birth Moms for Liberty Anchorage Chapter
Conservatives will gather at a secret meeting on Tuesday to discuss the feasibility of opening an Anchorage-based chapter of Moms for Liberty, an extremist organization that advocates for banning books and opposes educational curricula that include topics related to LGBTQ rights, racial and ethnic issues, and discrimination.
The meeting was revealed in a post by the pseudonymous Pat Riot (Patriot) account to the far-right pro-Bronson Save Anchorage Facebook group.
Information regarding Tuesday's gathering is scarce. However, a comment indicates that it will take place on Zoom and is being orchestrated by two as-yet-identified individuals.
With Save Anchorage now in shambles, serving as little more than a cozy corner for its members to grouse about their unsuccessful attempts at flipping Anchorage Assembly seats in the last two municipal elections, it appears some have grown bored of the group and are looking to their Valley counterparts for the next new thing…book banning!
A Mat-Su chapter of Moms for Liberty opened in April and is being led by an all-star cast of right-wing Republicans.
Two incumbent Matanuska-Susitna School Board members up for re-election this November, Ole Larson, and Kathy McCollum, will give presentations at a September 28th Moms for Liberty meeting, hoping to secure the extremist organization's endorsement. Those endorsements are almost a certainty given that school board member McCollum handpicked the Mat-Su chapter's secretary, Kali Ponder, to serve on the school district's book-banning committee Library Citizens Advisory Committee — already hard at work identifying books about LGBTQ issues, racism, and sexual education to ban.
Representatives Jamie Allard and Tom McKay have publicly expressed their support for Moms for Liberty. Both shared a flyer bearing the extremist organization's logo on their Facebook pages, aiming to encourage a strong turnout for last week’s Anchorage School Board meeting.
Contrary to some right-wing media reports, turnout for the school board meeting was low, with only tens of conservatives showing up in support of the far-right Parental Rights movement. Many who advocated for the school board to adopt a policy that could potentially put transgender students at risk appear to have simply regurgitated right-wing talking points and struggled to make a persuasive argument in support of their position.
Allard's support for Moms for Liberty comes as no surprise, especially considering her use of the derogatory term "groomers" in reference to Alaska teachers. The term "groomer" typically describes a sexual predator who establishes relationships with children or adults for exploitation and abuse. The slur has been wielded by many members of Moms for Liberty to unjustly vilify educators as child abusers and pedophiles.
On a radio talk show last week, Rep. Allard flatly denied ever saying such things, a denial that hardly raised eyebrows given her track record. Allard did indeed make such comments, once on the Must Read Alaska podcast and again on Amy Demboski's talk show.
I don't know about you, but I've been enjoying the peace and quiet of Anchorage politics over the past year, but that could all come to an end when Moms for Liberty gains a foothold in Anchorage.
On a positive note, the local chapter is likely to be led and supported by the same familiar cast of right-wing figures we've grown accustomed to over the years—and that means all that needs to be done to thwart them is to show up when they do, speak the truth, and vote.
