The Right-Wing Agenda Reveals Itself in the San Fernando Valley

The far-right movement – pro-Trump, anti-vaccination, anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-life – taking hold across the nation, has shown its face in the San Fernando Valley.

“Parental rights” groups organize rallies and events that preach a right-wing “Christian” ideology under the guise of protecting children. Education is their main battleground, with calls for religious-based vaccination exemptions, advocating for anti-trans legislation and unsubstantiated claims of “grooming” and “indoctrination” in schools.

These organizations are part of a larger political battle across Southern California and the United States. With the March 2024 Presidential Primary election just around the corner, local “parental rights” groups are focusing their attention on local elections. 

The SFV Alliance is a local community action group leading the parental rights charge in the Northeast Valley, with support from a network of other right-wing organizations. 

The Battle Over Education 

“We are parents who believe we are doing what’s best for our kids,” said Alyssa Sonora, the co-founder of the SFV Alliance and the head of Mom Army Mission Hills. 

Sonora has participated in multiple anti-vax and anti-LGBTQ+ events, and was the main organizer of the Drag Story Hour (DSH) protest on Oct. 25, 2023, when conservative demonstrators blockaded the San Fernando County Library, preventing Pickle the Drag Queen from entering for a drag storytime event. 

Video footage from the demonstration shows protestors encircling Pickle, blockading gates and hurling misinformed vulgarities – calling her a “pedophile,” a “sick child molester piece of  sh*t” and even telling her to “go kill yourself.” 

Organizations say they are “protecting children” and fighting for “parental rights,” but they often use hate-fueled language and push discriminatory policies. A network of conservative groups throughout Southern California are targeting public schools – protesting at school board meetings and advocating for a conservative curriculum. 

Alongside the SFV Alliance at the DSH protest were the “parental rights” groups: Leave Our Kids Alone (LOKA), an organization that has become a leader at demonstrating across Southern California, and factions of Mom Army, a network of locally-led right-wing “mama bear battalions.” They are a network that calls upon one another to participate in actions in their local communities. 

LOKA developed out of a June 2023 anti-LGBTQ+ demonstration at Saticoy Elementary in North Hollywood, when conservative parents protested the reading of “The Great Big Book of Families” for a pride event at the school.

Several LOKA events turned violent, including Saticoy, where a homeless man was beaten; and a 2023 protest outside a Glendale Unified School Board (GUSD) school board meeting, where a brawl with counter-protestors was instigated by men wearing LOKA shirts.

DSH protestor Manuk Grigoryan is an early member of the LOKA movement and has become a prominent figure in demonstrations across Southern California. He has a reputation for being loud, aggressive and verbally threatening toward people at protests and school board meetings. 

Some GUSD teachers have even received death threats or have been publicly doxxed. 

“I received one anonymous email, which ended with click click, making that notion of a gunshot,” said a gay GUSD teacher who asked to remain anonymous because of such threats. 

He has been teaching in the district for over a decade and has never seen anything like the “outpouring of hate” they experienced last year. He added that ever since “kids have felt uneasy, unsafe, especially our LGBTQ students.” 

Seven public school districts in Southern California already passed forced disclosure policies that require schools to inform parents if a student decides to use a name or pronoun different from what is on their birth certificate or participate in programs that are not aligned with their sex on official records. This can be done without the student’s permission, even when doing so would put them at risk of harm. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a legal alert in January, warning against forced gender identity disclosure policies, stating that they violate several of the California Constitution and state laws that safeguard students’ civil rights.

‘Faith, Family and Freedom’

Although isolated incidents may seem disconnected, they are part of a larger network of groups that are working together with ties to the larger far-right movement. 

Two DSH protestors – LOKA member Alberto Nuñez and Siaka Massaquoi, first vice chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party – participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Massaquoi was even arrested and later released on bail, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the Hollywood Burbank Airport. He was charged with misdemeanors, including trespassing, disorderly conduct and demonstrating in a Capitol building.

But political Christian groups are leading the parental rights charge. Turning Point USA, The Manhattan Institute and California Family Council make toolkits available and provide training sessions to assist those who want to target or disrupt local school board meetings. 

“Another reason why the parental rights framework is very appealing is because it’s also framed as religious rights,” said Annie Wilkinson, senior research analyst at the Political Research Associates. She focuses on the politics of anti-gender advocates in Mexico and the Americas.

“I think it’s important to understand this as a moral panic,” added Wilkinson. “And it is, in that sense, a very useful political strategy. … We see it be exacerbated and inflamed in the months leading up to elections.” 

The nonprofit Family Research Council (FRC) Action group says they “mobilize Values Voters on behalf of faith, family and freedom.” 

A panel topic at their Pray Vote Stand 2023 conference was “Strategies for Saving America’s Schools and School Children.” President of the Chino Valley Board of Education, Sonja Shaw, who is supported by LOKA, was on the panel discussing how the district is a “success story” in implementing the right-wing agenda in California schools. 

Another panel, “The Hispanic Community and Its Growing Influence on the U.S.,” was about how the Christian right needs to reach out and build alliances with conservative religious “Hispanic” communities.

This push from large conservative, Trump-affiliated political lobbyists to target religious Latino communities and activate them politically is reflected in the San Fernando Valley through groups like the SFV Alliance and the Los Angeles Hispanic Republican Club (LAHRC).

LAHRC Founder and Chairman David Hernandez platforms these positions on the weekly show he hosts on conservative talk radio station AM 870. He was also present at the DSH protest supporting 180 Shift, a Gen Z-led conservative organization distributing the same messaging to young voters. 

Getting Political

“Father the enemy comes into our community. The enemy is attacking the Hispanic minority communities,” said Benito “Benny” Bernal during a prayer at the DSH protest. 

Bernal is running as a Republican against two Democrats, including Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, for the 29th congressional district, currently represented by Congressman Tony Cárdenas. 

On his website, Bernal describes that he is fighting against “an agenda aimed at dismantling the nuclear family, eroding parental rights, indoctrinating our children and removing God in every way possible.”

Although Bernal has run for office in multiple elections, he has never won nor earned more than 19% of the vote. 

Sonora told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol that the SFV Alliance has turned its focus and attention to the March 5 primary election.

The SFV Alliance and LAHRC endorsed Bernal for the regional congressional seat, along with Ely De La Cruz Ayao, running against Councilmember Imelda Padilla, for LA City Council District 6.

Victoria Garcia, City of San Fernando Transportation and Public Safety commissioner, is endorsed by LAHRC and spoke in favor of the DSH protestors at a contentious San Fernando city council meeting in November of 2023. Garcia is running against Sylvia Ballin and Sean M. Rivas to fill the vacant seat in the San Fernando City Council left by Councilmember Cindy Montañez’s passing. She is concurrently running for Assembly District 43, currently held by Rivas, against five other candidates – including current San Fernando City Mayor Celeste Rodriguez (D) and a right-wing DSH protestor, Felicia Novik (R). 

But the core of the parental rights political strategy is the school board elections. 

Three of seven Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) school board seats are on the ballot in 2024, as well as two of five GUSD seats. And two of the candidates for the GUSD school board, Jordan Henry and Aneta Krpekyan, were at the center of the parental rights movement in the district. 

The SFV Alliance, LOKA, Mom Army and LAHRC endorsed several candidates for the LAUSD school board, including Raquel Villalta for the LAUSD District 3 seat in the San Fernando Valley. 

Villalta is opposed to the district’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and states she “will fight indoctrination in education and oppose gender ideology currently in LAUSD’s curriculum, as it undermines parents and their exclusive right to mentor their children on these matters.”

“Parental rights” groups are actively getting involved in politics and pushing the right-wing agenda in the San Fernando Valley. Their success is yet to be determined, but the March 5 Presidential Primary Election may reveal if they are gaining any traction. 

Registered voters can return their vote-by-mail ballots for the March 5 Presidential Primary Election Vote by mail, at a drop-off location or at their county elections office. Los Angeles vote centers opened for early in-person voting beginning on Feb. 24. The last day to drop off a ballot or vote in person is March 5.