PA Senators urge Philly Museum to cancel Moms for Liberty event.

The Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors National Summit is about to kick off in Philadelphia on June 29, but the event has been surrounded by controversy in the City of Brotherly Love for weeks.

Six Democrat members of the Pennsylvania Senate have sent a letter urging the Museum of the American Revolution to cancel the Moms for Liberty event scheduled from June 29 to July 2.

“Moms for Liberty, put plainly, is a hate group,” the June 20 letter said. “This is not hyperbole—on June, 6, 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated Moms for Liberty a hate group, and specifically, as an Anti-government Extremist group. SPLC went so far as to compare Moms for Liberty to the pro-segregationist parent groups that formed in the wake of Brown V. Board of Education.”

As elected representatives, the signers of the letter believe it is their duty to promote inclusivity and celebrate diverse backgrounds, fostering a sense of belonging for all residents.

The letter was signed by state Sens. Nikil Saval, Christine Tartaglione, Anthony Williams, Sharif Street, Vincent Hughes, and Jimmy Dillon, the Philadelphia delegation.

“The museum’s leadership has demonstrated a lack of judgment in agreeing to host a hate group. Fortunately, the mistake can be fixed with a simple and elegant solution: cancel the Moms for Liberty event scheduled for June 29. We look forward to your prompt actions,” the letter said.

It is worth noting the museum relies on donations for funding, including some from state grants which are overseen by the senators.

Event to Remain at Museum

As of June 26, the senators had not heard back from the museum, a spokeswoman for one of the senators told The Epoch Times.

“The Museum of the American Revolution is a private entity with complete discretion over what organizations it chooses to host,” Saval told The Epoch Times when asked if pressuring the museum could be perceived as curtailing freedom of speech. “The leadership’s decision to open its facilities to a hate group known for its use of threatening and violent rhetoric and its strong ties to national anti-LGBTQ groups and right-wing public officials, sends the message that the museum endorses these views. Urging the museum to cancel this event does not prevent this group from speaking; our letter asks a highly regarded cultural institution to uphold Philadelphia’s spirit of liberty, inclusivity, and solidarity.”

A spokesperson for the museum confirmed to The Epoch Times that it will not cancel the event.

“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,” the spokesperson said. “Consistent with this mission, we make available after-hours and private rentals to groups that organize legally and safely, including federally recognized 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. 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.”

Some staff at the museum have also complained about the event.

“We care deeply about providing a workplace in which our staff know they are heard, valued, and safe. We welcome all visitors and pride ourselves on a museum experience that reflects our mission to uncover and share the stories of diverse people and complex events that sparked the ongoing American experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government,” the museum spokesperson said.

“Our staff are the lifeblood of this work. We are aware that some members of our staff do not agree with the museum’s private booking, and we will continue to do all we can to support them by listening with intention, making sure they know they are valued, and accommodating them when the event date arrives.”

Protests Planned

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP Philadelphia) will hold a “dance party protest” of the Moms for Liberty event.

“We are a diverse, non-partisan group, united in anger, and committed to ending the AIDS crisis through direct action,” the ACT UP website says. Defense of Democracy is another group recruiting protesters for the event.

Moms for Liberty has objected to sexually explicit books in school libraries and critical race theory in school curriculum. It has quickly grown into a right-leaning political force that cannot be ignored.

“Moms for Liberty is an organization dedicated to the protection of parental rights in K–12 public education. We now have 285 chapters in 44 states and we have only been in existence for two years. We believe that parents know what is best for their children and they should be a part of all decision-making concerning their child’s education,” Moms for Liberty co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich told The Epoch Times in a joint email statement.

“We expect our national summit in Philadelphia to be a time of training and empowerment for parents to be more active in their child’s school system. We stand for the rights of parents and against anyone trying to silence parents who want to s