Rocky Romano and Miranda Winters spent more than five years following a grassroots network of suburban mothers who mounted a resistance campaign against dark money political groups engaged in coordinated, right-wing disruptions at Southern Califonria school boards designed to target LGBTQ-plus and other marginalized youth. (90 min.)
Moms Club
What’s it rated? Not rated
What’s it worth, Anna? Full price
What’s it worth, Glen? Full price
Where’s it showing? Fremont Theater on Monday,
Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m.; $35 tickets at
secure.actblue.com/donate/slocdpmomsclub
Glen: Would you be surprised to learn that the cultural war pitting Christian white nationalists against progressives may be part of a conspiracy by wealthy elites to end democracy in favor of authoritarian government? Moms Club explores a concerted effort in SoCal to protest school boards that, among other things, want to acknowledge Pride Month or protect LGBTQ-plus student rights. Maybe the Proud Boys are mere pawns whose anger and fear of LGBTQ-plus people is being stirred up and amplified to promote an agenda designed to undercut public education. Our heroes are the moms, but this fascinating documentary also gives a face and voice to the right-wing agitators who have been fearmongered into thinking they’re protecting kids from an evil, leftist agenda designed to make them gay or trans. They truly believe this! It’s hard to fault parents who think they’re protecting their children. What I most came away with is this: If you think who you elect to your local school board means little, you’re wrong. Democracy may be on the line.
Anna: Cue the tears for me because as someone whose career is in public education, the hardest thing of all is watching our student population suffer at the hand of politics. “Mom strength” is no joke though, and this small but mighty group of women is not just out to protect their own kids, but also kids who may not live in accepting spaces at home. As someone who has sat through and listened in on many school board meetings, I can tell you that they are generally a dry affair, with only big-ticket agenda items eliciting anything that you’d call a crowd. So when LA County’s board meetings started to be systematically interrupted, bombarded, and made clearly political, it was clear something bigger was going on. That turned out to be a network of the powerful elite, alt-right Christian militia and Proud Boys whose plan is to infiltrate and take over the systems and practices designed to safeguard all students from harm. I’m just flummoxed by people who stand in front of these large organizations, all of which seem to not even try and mask their ugly and callous agendas.
Glen: One of the moms sported a T-shirt that read, “Make school board meetings boring again.” Sadly, finding red meat and dog whistles to rile up extremists is effective. SLO County school boards have endured their share of controversy from parents and residents, from demanding books be removed to fretting over trans students sharing spaces with cisgendered students to complaining of LGBTQ-plus flags in classrooms to false claims of teaching critical race theory. If you go to the Sept. 28 screening at Fremont Theater, you should know that the proceeds will be used to help elect the SLO County Democratic Party’s endorsed school board candidates.
Anna: I encourage both teachers and parents to educate themselves. Attend your local school board meetings and don’t skip over that section on your ballot. School board members are elected, and we can continue to fight alongside the moms featured in this film with our votes and our voices. Looking at the true head of this monster is scary, but it’s real. We may live in a little bubble here on the idealistic Central Coast, but the threat is circling. Better to meet it head-on than to pretend it isn’t coming. School board agendas and action items are publicly available through your local school district.
New Times Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in September 17 – September 24, 2026.
