During this week’s Sarasota County School Board meeting, the public comment period stretched for nearly three hours, with the focus squarely on Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler. The community, comprised of students, parents, and LGBTQ members, passionately demanded Ziegler’s resignation due to her refusal to step down amidst a recently exposed three-way sex scandal involving her and her husband.
Numerous students shared their experiences of how Ziegler’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric affected them, with one teenager describing the necessity of pretending to be straight to avoid harassment. A 12-year-old student, identifying as queer and binary, expressed fear that Ziegler’s policies would hinder their learning based on their identity.
“If this is your approach to education, then you are unfit to serve on any board,” John Smeallie, a retired deputy superintendent of Maryland schools, told Ziegler, before labeling “a failed leader by “belittling” and “marginalizing” people who are LGBTQ-plus and “creating fear among students and staff who are part of this community.”
Residents criticized Ziegler’s views and opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Some labeled her a hypocrite, pointing out the discrepancy between her actions and public stances.
“You are a hypocrite of the worst order. Despite your attacks on the LGTBQ-plus community, it would appear that you are a part of it. Certainly a B, maybe a plus,” Smeallie told Ziegler to laughter.
One Sarasota resident, Sarah Kessler, read aloud the lyrics to Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” after fuming that Ziegler remained on the school board, “making it about yourself.”
The controversy surrounding Ziegler intensified after her husband, Christian, faced a criminal rape probe. Despite impassioned pleas from the community, Ziegler remained unmoved during the meeting, focusing on routine board matters and avoiding any reference to the scandal.
Calls for Ziegler’s resignation escalated, with the board passing a resolution in December urging her to step down. However, Ziegler persisted in her refusal. Only Governor Ron DeSantis holds the authority to suspend Ziegler, with the state Senate having the power to vote on her ousting.
While some board members proposed seeking DeSantis’s intervention, others opposed it. Criticisms were also directed at board members for perceived inaction and political posturing. Some accused the board of placating the public without genuine intent to remove Ziegler.
“Mrs. Ziegler isn’t the only one who lacks self-reflection,” stated Paulina Testerman of Support Our Schools. “After the Ziegler sex scandal made headline news, Mrs. Rose, you announced that you would be formally calling for Mrs. Ziegler’s resignation due to her being quote, ‘an irreparably harmful distraction to the school board’ … But when Mrs. Ziegler refused to step down, Mrs. Rose, you simply surrendered.”
Governor DeSantis, despite intervening in Christian’s case, has not publicly commented on Bridget’s situation. The controversy has thrust Ziegler into the spotlight, with the community divided over her continued presence on the school board.
Another packed school board meeting in Sarasota.
People are again calling for Bridget Ziegler to step down.
67 speakers signed up for public comments @10TampaBay pic.twitter.com/hTJRhKyJfr
— Miguel Octavio WTSP (@migueloctaviotv) January 17, 2024
Here’s another video from Dec. 17
Thank you, Zander Moricz, for ethering bigoted hypocrite, Bridget Ziegler of “Moms for Liberty”. Bravo. pic.twitter.com/khjBQCltqs
— Maya Contreras (@mayatcontreras) December 18, 2023
