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Watch this teacher BRUTALLY call out Moms for Liberty's Bridget Ziegler to her face
This history teacher is furious that the Republican school board member is calling teachers "groomers"
If you need the catharsis of watching anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans taken to task, look no further than a Sarasota School Board meeting, where community members regularly make our day by speaking truth to power.
At a March 5 meeting, students, parents, and teachers spoke out during the public comment section about everything from the horrors of charter schools to not providing free lunch for students, but it was one teacher's speech about book bans and school board member and Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler that had us cheering.
Liz Ballard, who has been a teacher in Sarasota County Schools for the last 20 years, started her rousing speech by pointing out that she has to keep her classroom bookshelf covered for fear of getting in trouble for having books that are deemed inappropriate for children — which really means any book that talks about race or the queer community.
"I'm an eight-grade U.S. History teacher," she said. My book shelf is covered. It has been covered for about a year and a half now."
Ballard went on to question the board's integrity because of its decision to oust superintendent Brennan Asplen when the board members were elected in November 2022. She said that the board's decision "blindsided the community in a bait-and-switch campaign" and that its intent was to cause "chaos and disruption."
She went on to say that teachers don't feel supported by the board and that they sent a clear message when they "fired a good man for simply doing his job."
Ballard then made our day by taking aim at Ziegler, who not only helped to found the far-right "parents' rights "group Moms for Liberty and is a staunch supporter of Ron DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" bill, but she is also a massive hypocrite who has refused to resign from the board despite the fact during an investigation into rape allegations against her husband she admitted to having a same-sex sexual encounter.
"Support means parents, students, and teachers know they belong to a larger community," Ballard explained. "Instead, Bridget, you have lied about what is going on in our classrooms and how teachers are groomers and indoctrinating students."
Only a GIANT hypocrite would try to dismantle LGBTQ+ rights and fight to prevent teachers from having queer books in the classroom while she's sleeping with a woman.
"Support is not going on Fox News to insinuate that you pulled your child from the Sarasota County public schools because she got in the car and asked you what white privilege was. Never happened," Ballard continued, pointing out how much Ziegler has lied to convince people that teachers are trying to "indoctrinate" students. "How a sitting school board member could tell such a whopper of a lie and get reelected is mind-boggling to me."
But Ballard wasn't done with Ziegler yet, calling her out for making "baseless posts" on social media where she claimed that teachers aren't doing their jobs. "Bridget, you went on Twitter back in November and lamented how it broke your heart that students haven't learned about Thomas Jefferson. You have never stepped foot in my classroom," she said before slamming the Republican board member for being a hypocrite in a brand new way — commenting on what's happening in Sarasota public schools when her kids don't even attend one.
"How on earth would you know what is actually going on in the classrooms in Sarasota County? You don't! But that has never stopped you and your disinformation campaign," she concluded to uproarious applause and cheering that caused the board to take a five-minute break.
These are open public comments where anyone can come and say their piece, but letting an articulate teacher up to bat was a mistake, considering how easily she tore Ziegler to shreds. On the other hand, we couldn't be happier with the results!
Now, if only the anti-LGBTQ+ hypocrite would step down. No one wants you there, ma'am.
School board meetings are often long and dull, but when Ziegler's feet are being held to the fire, we're all ears!
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Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
