On October 16, the Hedge Clippers organization held a rally in City Hall Park, Manhattan, expressing opposition to the education advocacy group PLACE NYC. They claimed that PLACE NYC is controlled by extreme right-wing billionaires who spread anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender, and racially discriminatory rhetoric and policies within New York’s education system. At the rally, City Council member Erik Bottcher spoke out against the organization.

The Hedge Clippers released a report alleging that PLACE NYC’s founders, Judy Thang and Maud Maron, were formerly high-ranking officials at the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR). The report suggests that FAIR shares donors with the conservative Manhattan Institute, indicating that Thang and Maron are being influenced by these billionaires to promote right-wing narratives in New York schools, which they argue endangers the safety of Black, Latino, and LGBTQ students. State Senators Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Jabari Brisport, along with Council member Bottcher, attended the rally to voice their concerns.

In response, Judy Thang described the accusations as “baseless and fabricated,” emphasizing that PLACE NYC was formed by concerned parents seeking to maintain high educational standards, and firmly denied any claims of receiving outside funding. Regarding the criticisms of being anti-LGBTQ or racially discriminatory, she insisted that PLACE NYC has always focused on educational quality and that the views of individual members do not represent the organization as a whole.

Thang, who has many LGBTQ friends, stated that as a parent, she believes it is essential for parents to play a significant role as teenagers explore their gender identity. “I was a tomboy in my youth, and if I had been misled by outside opinions at that time, it might have impacted how I handled those experiences.”

Maud Maron faced controversy earlier this year when she denied the existence of transgender children in a private chat, which led to her removal from the Manhattan District 2 Community Education Council by then-Schools Chancellor David Banks. Maron maintained her stance from the chat, asserting that “defending the rights of girls and women does not mean opposing transgender individuals.”