SARASOTA, Fla. – The Sarasota County School Board voted on Tuesday to ask for board member Bridget Ziegler’s resignation.
“So, I am disappointed. As people may know I serve on another public board and this issue did not come up and we were able to forge ahead with the business of the board,” said Bridget Ziegler, Sarasota School Board.
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The Sarasota County School Board cannot directly remove Bridget Ziegler from the panel. The resolution was authored by board Chair Karen Rose, who said in an email that she is “shocked and deeply saddened” by the rape allegations involving Ziegler’s husband, Christian Ziegler, and the couple’s admissions about having a three-way sexual encounter previously with the accuser.
Protests were held prior to the meeting on Tuesday, with people holding signs reading “Ban Bridget and “Don’t Say Three-Way.”
While Bridget Ziegler is not facing any charges in connection with the allegations against her husband, rallier Rhana Bazzini said it comes down to hypocrisy.
“I don’t care what people do in their private life. I mean, it doesn’t bother me at all but she is behaving in a manner that she was castigating,” said Bazzini.
Bridget Ziegler did receive support during public comment during the nearly three hours of public comment.
“It showed a hell of a lot of guts. Whatever you think, the truth is she’s one person against a whole room and shame on you. Anybody here who comes here and talks about a mother of three children,” said Martin Hyde, who supports Ziegler.
Bridget Ziegler has served on the board since 2014, when she was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, and has previously been its chair. She did not respond to email messages seeking comment about the resignation resolution, which is on the board’s agenda for a Tuesday evening meeting.
The Sarasota Police Department is investigating a woman’s accusation that Christian Ziegler raped her at her apartment in October. Police documents say the Zieglers and the woman had planned a sexual threesome that day, but Bridget Ziegler was unable to make it. The accuser says Christian Ziegler arrived anyway and assaulted her, according to the documents.
Christian Ziegler has not been charged with any crime and maintains his innocence, contending the encounter was consensual. Scott, Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida Republicans have called on him to step down as GOP chair, but he has refused to do so.
In a recent message to Florida Republicans, Christian Ziegler said he would remain as chair “because we have a country to save and I am not going to let false allegations of a crime put that mission on the bench as I wait for this process to wrap up.”
Bridget Ziegler has long been active in conservative politics. She was a champion of the DeSantis-backed law known by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” which restricts teaching of sexual and gender material in early school grades. Moms for Liberty, which she co-founded in 2021, aims to inject more conservative viewpoints in schools, restrict transgender rights, battle pandemic mask mandates and remove books they object to from school classrooms and libraries.
In addition, DeSantis appointed Bridget Ziegler to the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District that oversees Walt Disney World’s operations. That panel — which replaced one controlled by Disney — was created by the Legislature at DeSantis’ request after Disney objected to the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The board currently is the subject of state and federal lawsuits over control of the huge theme park outside Orlando.
Democrats and other critics say the Zieglers are hypocritical because the alleged sexual activities are completely at odds with the conservative views they push on others, particularly LGBTQ people.
“The Zieglers have made a habit out of attacking anything they perceive as going against ‘family values,’ be it reproductive rights or the existence of LGBTQ+ Floridians,” state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement. “The level of hypocrisy in this situation is stunning.”
The state GOP has called a meeting for Sunday in Orlando to discuss Christian Ziegler’s future as party chair.