You may remember news reports of clashes in the street outside some Southern California schools over sex education curricula.
That's where this story starts. It's also how Kristi Hirst got involved.
Hirst is a mother of three who'd previously worked as an educator. Now, she's part of a group of suburban Southern California moms who co-founded Our Schools USA.
She didn't think she'd find herself in the role.
"I was not super involved politically before all this," she told KCLU. "I was just a teacher and a mom."
Hirst is featured in Moms Club, a new documentary that follows her investigation of the links between the protesters. The film will be screened in Westlake Village on Sunday, August 30.
According to the film's website, "When a group of suburban moms discovers their public schools are under attack by a powerful network of religious extremists, they form a secret resistance to protect LGBTQ+ kids and defend free public education."
Hirst came to believe that the protestors were not concerned parents, but part of a broader organized movement deliberately targeting sex education policies at school boards.
"These things are happening at the national level," said Hirst. "We think of that as being so far away, but actually, it's right here on the ground in front of me too. Ultimately though, I will tell you that the focus was LGBTQIA topics in sex ed."
She and other moms formed a kind of secret resistance.
"I know that sounds like I'm a conspiracy theorist, and we used to be looked at that way when we first were saying it," she admitted.
Rocky Romano, who directed Moms Club, said the documentary is about more than school board politics. It's a road map detailing the protestors' links with the Proud Boys.
"The Proud Boys are most famous for being part of the attack on Capitol on January 6," said Romano. "They're very nationalist-focused, and to see them show up at school board meetings and...in an elementary school and be involved in street brawls was eye-opening. Something I've always been amazed by is the courage of the moms to go out and do all this and to put their names and their faces on a film like this."
The conflict was about whether educators should be compelled to tell parents if a student identifies as transgender at school. But it became about advocating for legislation at the state capitol.
"Because I was a parent on the ground here, they asked me to be a witness for the SAFETY Act...before it went to the floor for a vote," Hirst explained. "I was able to testify both times, and all the Moms Club helped."
The California SAFETY Act became law last year, prohibiting schools from requiring staff to notify parents.
"I need everyone to understand how at risk our schools are right now in this moment," said Hirst.
