On Aug. 30, 805SpeakEasy, local parent-activist group, hosted a screening of “Moms Club.” Community members gathered at New Thought Now! Spiritual Center in Westlake Village, sharing snacks and thoughts before watching the film.
“Moms Club” is an investigative documentary produced by Rocky Romero and Miranda Winters featuring a group of suburban moms in Southern California who discover their public school board meetings are infiltrated by a powerful, national network of extremist organizations. The moms formed a secret resistance to protect public education and LGBTQ+ kids from violent anti-queer movements.
Laura Tribble, co-founder of 805SpeakEasy, opted to highlight the documentary due to parallels she drew to CVUSD’s controversial 2017 school board election.
“Our mission is to educate the community,” Tribble said. “The fact that our three current trustees [faced] zero opposition is a testament to how strong our community is.”
The documentary reveals that many speakers at school-board proceedings were connected to the Council for National Policy [CNP] and similar interconnected groups. The CNP is a privately funded, highly secretive network for far-right political strategists, with local ties to Godspeak Calvary Church.
Angie Givant, “The Investigator,” featured in the documentary as a mother in Glendale School District, aims to move school-board matters away from extremist political division. Givant advocated for the Safety Act, which prohibits schools from requiring teachers and employees to“out” LGBTQ+ students to their parents.
The Supreme Court ruled against the Safety Act, concluding that schools could not force their teachers to disclose a student’s identity to their parents, but teachers could do so on their own.
“In no way did [the Safety Act] advocate for keeping secrets from parents,” Givant said.
Rocky Romero, co-director, found the creative direction for the film after being introduced to the moms club.
“Once we’d met the moms, we knew that we wanted to tell the story of the CNP through their lens, and I think that was the best decision we could have made,” Romero said.
“Moms Club” is next screening on Sept. 28 at the Freemont Theatre in San Louis Obispo. More information is available at momsclubfilm.com. The featured group continues to advocate against political extremism in school boards.
“[The CVUSD board of trustees] will continue to lead with good governance,” Tribble said.
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