Guardians of Morality-Can You Say “Glass House”
How Moms for Liberty and Rep. RJ May Prove the GOP’s Moral Panic is Just Projection
Moms for Liberty wants to save your children from books, drag queens, and anything with a rainbow. But maybe they should’ve checked their own guest list before handing out “medals of moral excellence.”
South Carolina State Rep. RJ May, recently honored by the group, was arrested and charged with distributing child sex abuse material, including files showing himself engaged in sex acts with underage girls. Yes, you read that right. The man Moms for Liberty hailed as a protector of children was allegedly doing the exact thing he claimed to fight.
Let’s rewind to May’s speech at their event: “We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them.” As so often happens, that line wasn’t a statement but a confession.
Meanwhile, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler has been busy writing her own chapter in the book of hypocrisy. As a Florida school board member and architect of the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law, she’s worked hard to push queer students back into the closet and queer content off classroom shelves. But then her husband was accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a hotel threesome with Bridget allegedly present.
So much for “parental rights.” Apparently, it’s fine for parents to bring in a third, just not a drag queen reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
And when the calls came for Ziegler to resign? She clung to her seat with the same grip she uses to clutch her pearls. Never mind that students and parents said her presence undermines any pretense of school board integrity. One speaker called her “a first-rate hypocrite.” That might’ve been generous.
These aren’t isolated missteps. This is the throughline of the GOP’s moral panic machine. When they accuse others of being groomers or perverts, it’s rarely about public safety. It’s about deflection. As I’ve said before:
When Republicans accuse others of doing something bad, it’s not really an accusation—it’s often a confession.
Because what have we seen over and over?
- Republicans banning books for “sexual content” while backing candidates charged with actual sex crimes.
- Lawmakers accusing LGBTQ teachers of “indoctrination” while texting high schoolers.
- Christian nationalists shouting about morality while funneling hush money to cover affairs and abuse.
They don’t care about protecting children. They care about controlling the narrative and the people who threaten it. In the past year alone, GOP-led legislatures introduced over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. They’ve attacked trans kids, criminalized healthcare, and tried to erase queer families from public life. Moms for Liberty has stood right beside them, book bans in one hand, Bible in the other, while ignoring the predators in their own ranks.
They rail against drag queens, but not the Proud Boys. They scream about rainbow flags but shrug at Nazi ones. They moralize from the podium while breaking every commandment behind closed doors. It’s not just hypocrisy. It’s a projection weaponized for power.
And still, the media often treats them like a serious movement. As if “Moms for Liberty” is a grassroots uprising instead of a fear factory backed by right-wing donors, channeling its rage into school board takeovers and book-burning photo ops. Let’s stop pretending they stand for morality. What they stand for is domination. They want to decide what your kids read, how your family lives, and who gets to belong. They cry “parental rights” only when it’s their version of parenting. Everyone else? Get in line or get out.
But as their golden boys get arrested and their leaders spiral into scandal, the rot gets harder to hide. The truth keeps leaking out, scandal by scandal, indictment by indictment. And the real threat to kids isn’t a librarian in a rainbow shirt, but the grinning hypocrite getting a standing ovation at a Moms for Liberty gala.
