- August 2023
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Image by Gordon Johnson from PixabayAs usual during June, the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library created a special Pride display of its LGBTQ offerings.
But then criminal elements staged—cue the dramatic music—a booknapping. Two locals emailed the branch manager to say they had checked out nearly all the books and wouldn't return them unless the library removed this "inappropriate content."
Okay, it's hardly the Lindbergh kidnapping, but it does underscore how emboldened and obnoxious the conservative book-banners have become.
However, they didn't win the day. Following a newspaper account of the hostage-taking, the library began receiving new copies of the purloined publications, and people donated $15,000 to San Diego's public library system. The city plans to match these funds, which will go toward LGBTQ materials and programming, including—cue the Cher tune—drag queen story hours.
As if this ending to the story wasn't ignominious enough, the book burglars returned the tomes they took. They were willing to anger the queer community, but clearly pissing off a bunch of librarians was just too scary.
- February 2022
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Image by ElasticComputeFarm from Pixabay Gene McGee, the mayor of Ridgeland, Miss., a suburb of Jackson, is withholding funding for his city's library because there are LGBTQ books on the shelves.
So says Tonja Johnson, executive director of the Madison County Library System, who told local news outlets that the mayor objected to what he called "homosexual material" in the library. "His reasoning that he gave was that, as a Christian, he could not support that, and that he would not release funding until we remove the material."
I'll give you no guesses which political party Mayor McGee belongs to.
McGee hasn't admitted that he's withholding the money over queer literature, but said "sexual connotations are not appropriate for children when they enter the library."
In that case, the library obviously must clear its shelves of all Danielle Steel novels. And that'll leave the matrons of Ridgeland so bereft they might even vote Democratic.
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