The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia is facing backlash for agreeing to rent one of its event spaces to the far-right group Moms For Liberty on June 29, the first day of the ‘Joyful Warriors Summit’. organization in a nearby hotel. Moms For Liberty is classified as an anti-government, anti-inclusion extremist organization by civil rights watchdog Southern Poverty Law Center, and is famous for railing against “an inclusive curriculum, LGBTQ rights and what they see as inappropriate reading material in classrooms and libraries,” according to the SPLC.
The hyperconservative “mother brigade” has been criticized for its nonprofit status as a 501(c)4, which allows Moms For Liberty to remain tax-exempt and avoid disclosing the identities of its donors. Accustomed to courting controversy with inflammatory hate speech, the group’s representatives have recently been forced to apologize after its Indiana-based chapter quoted a 1935 speech by Adolf Hitler in a news bulletin.
Museum workers are outraged by the institution’s attendance at the conference, which is scheduled to run through July 2 and feature right-wing speakers including former US President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The museum agreed to lease its facilities to Moms For Liberty in December 2022, but the decision was only made public following a leak in late May. The civil rights organization Defense of Democracy has launched a online petition in solidarity with museum employees on June 5, which to date has collected over 1,600 signatures. According to Philadelphia Gay Newsabout 60% of museum staff have signed it.
In a statement to Hyperallergicsaid a spokesperson for the Museum of the American Revolution, “because fostering understanding within a democratic society is so essential to [its] mission, rejecting visitors on the basis of ideology would actually be contrary to [its] purpose.” The spokesperson added, “We welcome all visitors and pride ourselves on a museum experience that reflects our mission to discover and share the stories of diverse people and complex events that sparked the American experience. on freedom, equality and self-government.”
While the spokesperson conceded that “some staff members” did not condone the booking, they also claimed that the museum plans to “do everything we can to support them by listening to them with intent, by s ‘making sure they know they’re appreciated and welcoming them when the event date arrives’.
In a comment to Philadelphia Gay News on June 5, longtime museum staff member Bee Reed said, “I have very mixed feelings. I’ve worked for the museum for four or five years now, and I’ve always been grateful to work in a place that has been so supportive of me as a queer person. But with that, I feel a great sense of betrayal. An anonymous member of staff said the museum’s board had remained “silent and absent” throughout the controversy.
Defense of Democracy staged a protest against the museum’s decision on June 9, renting a display truck with a video denouncing Moms For Liberty. A simultaneous demonstration of Act Up Philly and the Young Communist League gathered outside the museum. On June 16, organizers staged another protest, decrying the Moms For Liberty reservation as part of the museum’s progressive programming, such as the screening of a documentary on Black American history and a special exhibition on the influence of a prominent black family in Philadelphia in the 18th century.
The museum’s social media accounts have been inundated with complaints from visitors, locals and activists. On the museum instagram post in honor of Juneteenth, a moderator at the institution responded to a flood of comments demanding accountability by thanking followers for their “concerns about an upcoming private after-hours rental at one of our facilities and exhibitions”, and directing aggrieved commenters to a general contact form on the museum’s website.
