Moms for Liberty completely misrepresented in column
I am responding to the column by Tyler O’Neil of The Heritage Foundation published in the June 14 Naperville Sun.
Mr. O’Neil is entitled to his opinion but not to lies. In his column, Mr. O’Neil fails to mention that The Heritage Foundation funds Moms for Liberty (M4L) or his vested interest in attacking the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is false to say M4L is “grassroots,” or “homeschooling moms.”
M4L co-founder Bridget Ziegler works for the Leadership Institute founded by Council for National Policy, a strategy and funding organization for the Christian Right that uses “the doctrine of religious liberty to … construct a Bible-based social, political, and religious order which denies the religious liberty of (their) enemies.” (Cohn, June 2023)
O’Neil claims M4L is “plotted alongside the KKK.” False. M4L is listed as an “anti-student inclusion movement/anti-government extremist group.” M4L has repeatedly attacked public school boards, libraries, teachers, and health care providers.
O’Neil claims M4L is a “parental rights movement” working for “the protection of children.” Not all children. Marisa Fuentes of Rutgers said, “The language of ‘protection of children’ is code for ‘White children should not be made to know how they benefit from centuries of violence, theft of land, and slavery.”
Virulently anti-LGBTQ, M4L is particularly vicious to transgender people and those who love and care for them. M4L uses the terms “groomers, child mutilation advocates, leftists and Marxists.” M4L uses propaganda to reframe race, gender, and sexuality as “race hustling,” “pedophilia” and “pornography.”
M4L groups (including the Naperville chapter) claim nonpartisanship but they are deeply funded, extreme-right political action groups. If the “Moms” are the foot soldiers for theocracy, today’s GOP are the Christian Right’s generals. Millions understood M4L’s hate before Southern Poverty Law Center had a say.
It is disappointing the Naperville Sun would publish this “opinion.”
Karen V. Peck, Naperville
Council missed its chance to do a lot of community good
The Naperville City Council could have done so much for so many organizations and people in Naperville by distributing its $13.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to groups that can help people instead of using it for capital improvement projects.
It could have been used for mental health treatment programs, food pantries, DuPage Pads, small businesses. There are so many worthwhile organizations.
Meanwhile, the Dupage County Board gives $500,000 to food pantries.
Our city council had the opportunity to do so much for so many.
Charles Brown, Naperville
Share your views
Submit letters to the editor via email to suburbanletters@tribpub.com. Please include your name and town of residence for publication. Please include phone number and email address for confirmation. Letters should be no more than 250 to 300 words.
