While Moms for Liberty has dominated headlines concerning the movement against student inclusion and educational equity, numerous other organizations work with less public scrutiny to shape public education policies and practices. These groups employ a range of tactics, from lobbying and litigation to direct intimidation and misinformation campaigns.
Together, these groups represent a growing trend: weaponizing public outrage and social media virality to enforce a narrow vision of education. Their strategies of harassment and public shaming have injected fear into discussions around race, gender and equity in the classroom.
They are part of a broader movement aimed at restricting LGBTQ+ rights, banning diverse curricula, undermining public education, dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and promoting far-right ideological narratives under the guise of “parental rights” and “educational reform.” These efforts have created a chilling effect on educators, students and parents advocating for inclusivity.
Attacks on public education through policy and legal maneuvers
In recent years, policy and legal efforts designed to curtail inclusivity have targeted public education, with various organizations seeking to influence legislation and reshape legal frameworks to institutionalize exclusionary practices and limit the rights of marginalized students. A growing network of anti-student-inclusion (ASI) groups across the United States has mounted aggressive campaigns to transform public education.
Defending Education — formerly known as Parents Defending Education — employs a litigious strategy. Framing itself as a watchdog fighting against what it calls “indoctrination” and “politicized classrooms,” the organization frequently files lawsuits against school districts and federal agencies. These legal challenges often target DEI initiatives, social emotional learning (SEL) programs, and policies designed to support LGBTQ+ students. Its consistent opposition to inclusive educational policies reveals an agenda focused on curtailing equity-based reforms and dismantling protections for marginalized student populations.
In one notable case, Defending Education filed a lawsuit against Wellesley Public Schools in Massachusetts, challenging the district’s use of race-based “affinity groups” and a bias reporting system. Affinity groups create safe and supportive spaces for people sharing a common identity and help create a sense of belonging. The ASI group argued that these practices violated students’ First and 14th amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of expression and equal protection. The lawsuit also claimed violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs that received federal funding. The group’s founder and president commented that affinity groups were “immoral” and “unconstitutional.” The lawsuit resulted in a settlement wherein the school district discontinued the affinity groups and revised its bias reporting procedures.
In another lawsuit, the organization challenged policies in the Olentangy Local School District in Ohio, alleging that the district’s guidelines on gender identity infringed upon students’ free speech rights and parental rights. The case argued that requiring students to use peers’ preferred pronouns and the district’s approach to gender identity support plans violated constitutional protections. These arguments failed to persuade both a district court and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Another increasingly visible ASI player is Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF), an organization with active chapters in Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Texas that has been instrumental in lobbying for state-level legislation that restricts LGBTQ+ inclusion and rolls back DEI programs. CDF regularly mobilizes its members to attend school board meetings, where they protest LGBTQ+ rights, challenge library materials and push for restrictive policies regarding student identity and expression.
In a Facebook post, CDF took credit for disrupting LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts in Florida schools:
Citizens Defending Freedom is continuing to defeat the LGBT agenda that has invaded public school systems.
In Polk County, Florida, our members stood against a June ‘Pride Month’ proclamation in the School District.
Due in part to our efforts, that proclamation was CANCELED!
Through lawsuits, policy proposals and public pressure campaigns, these groups are reshaping the educational landscape — often at the expense of students from marginalized backgrounds. Their actions have sparked concern among educators, civil rights advocates and public-school supporters who argue that such efforts are undermining educational equity and student well-being.
Harassment as a political tool
Beyond legal battles, ASI groups have launched attacks on educators and professionals who advocate for DEI to make schools safe and affirming spaces for all students. Many ASI organizations have increasingly adopted harassment and public intimidation to pressure school administrators, teachers and DEI professionals into abandoning inclusive initiatives. These efforts have made it significantly more difficult for educators to foster welcoming environments without fear of reprisal, contributing to a chilling effect that discourages the adoption of equity-focused programs amid concerns over public backlash, lawsuits and personal targeting.
Defending Education, known for its legal battles against what it labels “politicized classrooms,” has also used public pressure campaigns to target educators. The group calls out school personnel and DEI consultants in online reports, labeling them purveyors of “woke indoctrination.” By naming individual teachers and professionals in its reports, Defending Education has contributed to online harassment and has fueled outrage campaigns that often spread rapidly through social media.
Perhaps most aggressive in its tactics, a group called Awake Illinois has drawn widespread criticism for harassment campaigns targeting school officials and others who implement anti-racist and LGBTQ+ inclusion policies. The group, which rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic by opposing school mask mandates, has since broadened its scope to challenge what it calls “radical gender ideology” and “critical race theory”-based indoctrination.
Notably, the group has publicly opposed LGBTQ+-inclusive events and materials in schools and libraries, actions that have led to heightened tensions and more. After Awake Illinois promoted opposition to a drag event at the Downers Grove Public Library, threats of violence against library officials led to the event’s cancellation.
Awake Illinois has tried to silence its opponents. In October 2022, the ACLU of Illinois reported that the ASI group sent cease-and-desist letters threatening defamation lawsuits against two community members who had expressed opposition to the group’s agenda. The ACLU described these legal threats as attempts to silence dissent and curb free speech.
“Awake Illinois used baseless legal threats to try to silence those who disagreed with them,” said Rebecca Glenberg, chief supervising litigation counsel, First Amendment, of the ACLU of Illinois. “While Awake Illinois and its members consistently used harsh and often offensive language to label others as dangerous, they feigned injury when others spoke out to criticize Awake. Their threats did not deter people in Illinois who want to advocate for preserving a diversity of books in schools and libraries.”
Disinformation, ideological indoctrination and moral panic as mobilization tools
A growing number of ASI groups are trying to shape public perception through disinformation, ideological messaging and moral panic. These groups regularly disseminate misleading or false narratives about public education. In doing so, they aim to mobilize communities against policies that promote DEI, while advancing a revisionist view of American history and society.
Two notable examples are Courage Is a Habit and No Left Turn in Education, both of which have gained traction by circulating sensationalist content related to “critical race theory” (CRT), LGBTQ+ rights and what they frame as “leftist indoctrination” in schools. These organizations frequently misrepresent academic concepts — such as critical race theory, which is rarely taught in K-12 classrooms — as widespread threats to children’s education and morality.
Courage Is a Habit produces toolkits, videos and presentations aimed at “warning” parents about what it describes as “social-emotional learning as a delivery mechanism for CRT and gender ideology.” The organization claims to equip parents with the “habit of courage” to confront educators and school officials. Its messaging often conflates mental health services, identity-affirming policies and anti-racist curricula with ideological coercion.
The organization’s website provides resources such as the “Decoder Series,” which aims to break down what the group views as confusing indoctrination programs and tactics used by activists to silence parents. The website states that it offers “actionable tools & strategies for parents to defend their children from indoctrination in K-12.”
Similarly, No Left Turn in Education encourages parents to report books, lesson plans and teachers they believe promote “divisive ideologies.” The organization maintains a public database of allegedly offensive materials and often promotes the idea that schools are indoctrinating children with Marxist or anti-American views.
Media Matters for America has described No Left Turn in Education as one of the “leading groups fearmongering about the teaching of critical race theory in schools.” The article notes that the group frequently “used toxic and bigoted rhetoric on social media and in right-wing media” to attack public education.
Another significant actor in this disinformation ecosystem is PragerU. Despite its name, PragerU, or Prager University, is not an academic institution in any sense. It specializes in promoting far-right propaganda through professionally produced media.
PragerU has become part of the movement claiming children are being indoctrinated in public schools and responded by creating PragerU Kids. About his encounter with a demonstrator on his way to speak at the 2023 Moms for Liberty summit, Dennis Prager, co-founder of PragerU, recalled: “I really wanted to hear what evidence do you have that I am despicable? And all I heard was, ‘Well, because you indoctrinate kids.’ Which is true. We bring doctrines to children. That is a very fair statement. I said, ‘But what is the bad of our indoctrination?’”
Although the books, videos and lesson plans offered as part of PragerU Kids are not new, PragerU recently began partnering with state boards of education to allow educators in public schools to incorporate PragerU Kids books and videos into curricula as they saw fit. PragerU Kids content is now available in public schools in Florida, Montana, Louisiana, Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Texas. The organization’s biannual report announced a goal to add 10 new states to this program in 2024-25.
Critics have accused PragerU materials of promoting nationalism, anti-DEI narratives and the whitewashing of historical events as patriotic education. These narratives play into broader moral panic campaigns that portray public schools as battlegrounds for the nation’s cultural future.
Direct attacks on diverse students
Perhaps the most troubling trend among ASI groups is their increasing focus on directly targeting marginalized students — particularly LGBTQ+ youth and students of color. These groups are working to undermine both the safety and the civil rights of vulnerable populations in schools.
ASI groups have increasingly engaged in campaigns that critics argue amount to harassment of LGBTQ+ and students of color, often under the guise of protecting parental rights or opposing “radical” ideologies in schools. These efforts frequently begin online and extend into school board meetings, disciplinary actions and policy changes. For example, Colorado’s Poudre School District severed ties with the LGBTQ+ youth organization SPLASH Youth of Northern Colorado after a parent’s complaint about a Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) meeting, leading to the cessation of certain resources for queer students. Similarly, in California, several school districts have adopted policies mandating the disclosure of students’ transgender identities to parents without the students’ consent, raising concerns about outing and its potential harm to students’ mental health and safety.
Groups like Citizens Defending Freedom and Awake Illinois have actively campaigned against what they describe as “gender grooming” in schools, encouraging parents to opt their children out of programs discussing gender and sexuality. Such campaigns have led to increased scrutiny and, in some cases, the restriction or dissolution of student-led support groups. The cumulative impact of these actions contributes to a climate where marginalized students may feel unsafe or unsupported in educational environments. This “chilling effect” discourages students from expressing themselves, forming supportive groups or advocating for their rights due to fear of retaliation. Civil rights experts warn that these actions represent a broader cultural backlash and could reverse hard-won protections for LGBTQ+ people and youth of color.
This has raised alarms among experts who highlight the potential risks of forced disclosure. According to The Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ youth who experience parental rejection are at a significantly higher risk of adverse mental health outcomes, including depression and suicide. Policies that mandate outing students without their consent can exacerbate these risks, leading to increased instances of homelessness and psychological distress among vulnerable youth.
Awareness, reporting and resistance are essential in countering this movement. Civil rights organizations, educators, parents, students and allies must work together to protect diverse students, uphold inclusive education and safeguard DEI initiatives to ensure all students receive the equitable education they deserve.
Illustration atop by the SPLC.