Dear Friends,

My name is Michael Gottesman. I am a retired NJ attorney with 30+ years of practice experience. About 2 years ago, I saw the writing on the wall when right-wing radical forces began an organized attack on our school boards and public school system.

An alarm went off because my first thought was if these people are able to take over our school boards, what will our public schools look like when my 2-1/2 year-old granddaughter attends them in a couple of years?

I decide right then and there it was time for me to get involved. Since that time, I have become a community organizer and public school advocate. I began to speak at my local BOE meetings trying to dispel the misinformation and stop the intimidation by people who were supported by well-organized and well-funded entities that spewed hate, racism and intolerance, seeking to turn the clock back 50 to 100 years.

I was vilified for my efforts. Defamed, slandered and threatened. But I refused to give up.

However, I still watched as Moms for Liberty and other Christian Nationalist groups over-ran school districts all over the country. I have watched as books about LGBTQAI+, racism, diversity and tolerance are being banned and curriculum is being “whitewashed.”

So in May of 2022, I founded the “New Jersey Coalition for Protection of Public Education,” now renamed to the “New Jersey Public Education Coalition” (NJPEC) with the goal to: ENGAGE more parents and a wider audience; to EDUCATE and inform parents so they have the knowledge they need to dispel the misinformation and lies and to be capable of challenging and discrediting the “messengers of hate;” and to COLLABORATE with other like-minded organization so we can create a network that does not duplicate work and can grow into a force to be reckoned with. And we are already having some great success.

Then last fall, Moms for Liberty came to my town and told our school board and our residents that they didn't know how to run our schools. Imagine that. Outsiders telling the good people of my town that we were doing it wrong.

They pushed their agenda planting seeds so that children and parents began to express doubt that the Holocaust was real. Saying that that our librarians and teachers can't be trusted. I’ve seen individuals who suddenly felt "threatened" by the idea that their children might learn about civil rights, with fear generated hysteria about Critical Race Theory (CRT).

Moms for Liberty is a hate group that is anti-diversity, anti-inclusion and anti-LGBTQIA+. They claim that all members of the LGBTQAI+ community are "groomers," an anti-Gay trope used for decades to malign and isolate the community

Moms for Liberty claims that teachers are pedophiles seeking to train our children for the sex trafficking industry. It is a false-conspiracy driven group seeking destroy our public school system and to insert hatred and right-wing theocratic principals into our schools.

And what do they want to change? Acceptance, understanding, curiosity on their watch would be replaced with fear, hate, and racism.

It’s time to tell these moms that the answer is no! Not in our town. Not on our watch!

Moms for Liberty has scheduled their national convention to take place at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown Hotel this summer.

I'm asking that Marriott International stand up with groups like GLAAD, who have recently added Moms for Liberty to their Accountability Project and every other good and patriotic American to deny groups like Moms for Liberty the ability to host a hate-conference in their facility.

Marriot has a clear corporate policy on diversity and inclusion and has been awarded a 100% score for the past nine years by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for policies and practices relating to LGBTQ equality and inclusion. It is a violation of Marriott's corporate policy and an insult to their LGBTQ employees and all Americans for them to allow Moms for Liberty to use their property.

Please sign this petition to show LGBTQIA+ kids; kids who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC); kids of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) descent; Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist kids; and kids of every religion, that you stand beside them, and that our parents and our residents know what is best for kids and what should be in our curriculum, not outsiders full of hatred and enmity toward anyone who is not just like them.

It’s time to demand that Marriott refuse to allow Moms for Liberty to hold their national convention or any other event at a Marriott property.

This petition is supported and sponsored by the:

NEW JERSEY PUBLIC EDUCATION COALITION (NJPEC) formerly known as the New Jersey Coalition for Protection of Public Education Click for Facebook page

DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY Click for Webpage

If your organization would like to join in support of this petition, please email NJPEC4U@gmail.com