As Challenges for LGBTQ Books Increase, Some Louisiana Librarians Afraid to Go to Work (2023)

COVINGTON, LA. - Librarians in Louisiana are being attacked and harassed by conservative activists who want to ban or restrict access to LGBTQ books in public libraries.

Ever since Amanda Jones, a high school librarian, spoke out against censorship over the summer, she's been in the crosshairs of a growing campaign across the state.

Conservative groups began to challenge certain books in their community, and Jones protested during a public council meeting in July, saying everyone in the city deserved to have access to information and be reflected in the public library's collection.

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"Just because you don't want to read or see [a particular book] doesn't give you the right to reject others or ask for their relocation," Jones said at the meeting. She is President of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians and has worked as an educator and librarian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana for over two decades.

"Once you start changing and locking a subject, it becomes a slippery slope, and where does it end?" She added. Since then, Jones has reportedly faced relentless online attacks, including false claims that she shares "sexually erotic and pornographic material" with 6-year-olds and "advocates teaching 11-year-olds anal sex," according to a libel. Explanation. Jones filed a lawsuit in August against the owners of two conservative Facebook groups. In court documents, Jones claimed she was "deviant and a danger to children". The lawsuit was dismissed in September, but Jones intends to appeal.

Despite the fact that opinion polls show at the national levelParents are happierAs your children are educated, efforts to ban or challenge books in schools and libraries have increased over the past year as a conservative political movement in the name of parental rights focuses on literature focused primarily on race, gender and LGBTQ issues. topics focused.

The American Library Association, which oversees the yearlySeries of book challenges, documented 681 attempts to ban or restrict library resources between January 1 and August 31, 2022. Around 1,650 individual titles were attacked during this period. The ALA said the latest numbers would exceed last year's totals.

In Louisiana, politicians like Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry helped stoke tensions. Landry began in December encouraging state residents to set up a hotline to notify librarians, teachers and other staff if they provide children with library materials that contain "extremely explicit sexual content."

In this charged climate, some members of groups that lead book challenges and promote censorship have been appointed to library boards, and have also called on local authorities to withdraw funds from libraries they say provide access to dangerous materials for children. The groups have expressed support for what they see as traditional Christian values ​​in public settings and have used law enforcement to quell protests. Library patrons have called police over librarians accused of harming children.

Jones took a sabbatical from her job as a librarian in January due to increasing scrutiny. It was "very scary" being a librarian now, she said, to the point of panic attacks.

"I'm scared of going out in public. I fear for my safety," he said. "I bought a taser. I bought pepper spray. I have extra security cameras in my house.”

Libraries under investigation

The battle over the library's contents intensified in recent months when the state police chief announced that his office had opened an investigation into Louisiana libraries. Landry said the effort found some state libraries offer children "unrestricted access to sexually explicit materials."

Landry, who is also running for governor, said soThe state needs a law to restrict itwhat minors can take from public libraries. Flanked by state lawmakers and parents at a news conference earlier this month, the Attorney General a54-page reporttitled "Protection of Innocence" which includes excerpts from several books Landry highlighted, including those with LGBTQ themes.

"It's not about banning lifestyles or anything else," Landry said. “This does not mean that we ban or censor voices. That means some books have to be taken away from children."

Lynette Mejia, co-founder of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, called the report "a waste of valuable taxpayers' money" and "political acrobatics by a candidate desperate to use the national culture wars for his own political gain here at home."

The Louisiana ACLU criticized the report.

"Overly broad laws that restrict freedom of speech and thought are contrary to the First Amendment," said Executive Director Alanah Odoms.in one sentence."It hasn't gone unnoticed that the vast majority of titles and authors being criticized by the Attorney General today were written by and about people of color, women and the LGBTQ+ community."

Auditing of libraries, books, study materials and curriculum has become a key issue for conservative politicians across the country. In Florida, the Department of Education launched a statewide initiativereview reading materialmade available to children in schools, under a law that came into force last summer that could face harsh penalties for any educator who makes books available deemed inappropriate. Missouri librarians were forced to remove books from shelvesunder threat of criminal chargeslast fall. Virginia has established a whistleblower line to encourage parents to report critical race theory classroom materials, butfinish the effort in silencelast year.

All of this effort comes at a time when voters say they don't support a book ban. In a poll conducted just before the midterm elections, 75% of voters said they would"Prevent Book Ban"it was an important consideration when choosing who to support. Only 8% of voters said they thought “too many” books should be banned.

In Louisiana, Landry's report cited nine books that contained what he called "sexually explicit material" that were found "available for children in one or more public libraries," but did not name the libraries.

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IsLibrary Association of Louisianaissued a statement calling the allegations "false" and said the report "proposes a solution to a non-existent problem. "Louisiana public libraries have policies and safeguards in place that allow parents to make good decisions for their children."

This is the second time Landry has joined the book ban fight. In December he started his"Child Protection"Website urging the public to denounce what he calls "taxpayer-sponsored sexualization of children."

Landryarguedthat taxpayers should not subsidize libraries and schools that have "licensed material" on their shelves.

In DecemberPost on Facebook, wrote: "Libraries should be safe places for children to develop a lifelong love of reading, explore intellectual passions, and pursue dreams of a fulfilling career, not where they are exposed to books with extremely sexual content (or worse). . Graphic. ”

Landry's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from PBS NewsHour.

Critics like Peyton Rose Michelle, executive director ofTrans women advocates in Louisianawho is the first openly trans person elected to political office in Louisiana, the new complaint calls a "whistleblower."

He slammed Landry for "incredibly inflammatory rhetoric," adding that the attorney general's actions amounted to "an overstatement by the government in interfering in our lives and saying what we can and can't do."

Michelle, who is a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, described how dangerous it is to remove or ban books, especially for young trans people who "need to know they belong".

"During my trans youth, or even before I knew what trans was ... I thought I was so far from normal that I was wrong," she said. "It's not good for a child to think they can't be saved."

"When I saw my first trans book, it was completely mind-blowing to see how things were approached in a way that would have changed my life had I seen it at a younger age."

From silence to chaos

Normally quiet libraries and council meetings have been turned into anxious spaces in several communities across the state, including Bossier, Livingston, Rapides and Lafayette.

The majority of book challenges in Louisiana over the past year have focused on LGBTQ-related children's and youth titlesan Analysis of the Louisiana Illuminator. Of the state's 64 municipalities, only five said they received impeachments in the past year.

The biggest row over the books revolves around the parish of St. Tammany, a New Orleans suburb, where a growing list of more than 150 books is being challenged in a coordinated campaign to pressure the seven members of St. Library. .

Since August, St. Tammany has received 188 "Statements of Concern" on the 150 books.

She received about 80 percent of the 188 Challenges St. Tammany from Connie Phillips, an organizer of the St. Louis Parish Library Accountability Project Facebook group. tammany Although the group has publicly stated that it opposes the book's ban, some of the online filings are calling for the book's immediate removal. Many challenges required moving the books.

Among the most scrutinized books is Maia Kobabe's 2019 graphic memoir Gender Queer, whichexamines gender identity and sexuality. In the novel, Kobabe, who is non-binary, describes how discovering queer books in a library was an affirmation for a high school student. he was itmost controversial book in the countryin 2021, according to the ALA.

Phillips argued in one of four challenges the book received that Kobabe's novel contains sexually explicit content that violates state obscenity laws.

Kelly LaRocca, Principal of St. Tammany, has been a librarian for 17 years. She said the number of controversial books has skyrocketed in recent months because a few complaints surfaced every few years.

Since the summer turmoil, St. Tammany has launched a costly 120-day review of controversial books that will redirect staff and resources. So far none have been withdrawn. However, until all books have been read and reviewed, access to the 150+ books is limited and available on request only.

LaRocca said monthly public meetings are now filled with "passionate" groups speaking out against censorship, and others argue that some library content exposes children to pornographic material and different perspectives on race, gender and sexuality.

During a November presentation to the board, conservative groups presented a slide that read, "From kindergarten through college, the library has a taxpayer-sponsored and organized agenda to desensitize, brainwash, abuse and rush its sons." to prepare".

Anti-censorship and LGBTQ groups reacted loudly.

"It's a dystopian nightmare. It's just hatred of the queer community," said Mel Manuel, a spokesman for the St. Tammany Library Alliance over repeated calls for the books to be removed. The group was formed in August after an intensified scrutiny of library books. "I think what me What surprised me was the intensity and also the fact that he had the support of political figures." Manuel sees efforts to censor literature as part of a larger and more dangerous societal shift. "That's how it starts: labeling someone a villain and a scapegoat for all your problems," they said.

St. Tammany's Facebook page describes itself as a group of parents and parishioners who say they want more control over the library system. Some members want to set up a separate Community Advisory Committee to review library book purchases and move controversial books to an area inaccessible to minors.

Local activists like Manuel said local councils are not qualified to decide whether or not to remove the books. They worry that it "is not made up of a diverse group of residents who represent the community as a whole," adding that "obtaining books is the librarian's job."

In response to an increase in book challenges, St. Tammany implementeda new system in january. It changed its policy regarding controversial material, automatically making appeals to the library's board of trustees and giving parents more control over the restrictions on their children's library cards.

David Cougle, one of the administrators of the Accountability Project, declined an interview but agreed to answer questions via email. He said one of the group's goals is to protect children.

“People reasonably believe that libraries are safe places for children and others and not places where children can be exposed to sexually explicit and pedophilic material. However, this is what is happening and so we want to fix that," Cougle, who is also an attorney, said in an email response.

The Accountability Project's Facebook group, which has 890 followers and highlights materials it believes are dangerous for children, is also targeting library staff. A Jan. 14 post said: “The fact that the Saint Tammany Parish Library Administration uses literature to prepare our children is undeniable. The question is, do we care?

On Jan. 19, the group posted an image on Facebook defining the word "barber." The post read, "See also: Counselor and Director of St. Tammany's Parish Library, Kelly LaRocca."

Critics like Manuel criticized the group for personally attacking library staff and using the term "barber", particularly when referring to LaRocca.

“There are no librarians who look after children and there are no queer people in the library who look after children. I think it's pretty clear that books aren't the problem," said Manuel, the public school teacher and lifelong resident of St. Tammany. "What has changed in my life is that we now have a lot of queer books Having content that I didn't have as a kid. I think it's really important that our kids now, our queer kids, can see themselves. It says here you're welcome. You're part of this community and there's nothing wrong with you ."

Cougle has denied the group uses the term "hairdresser," but the posts are publicly available on their Facebook page. At the time of writing this article, the posts appear to have been edited.

"We do not support the application of labels or judgments to any group or type of person and have done everything possible to prevent it," Cougle wrote. "Unfortunately, citizens who spoke at public meetings about problems with the library system were reviled by many vile names by library advocates."

LaRocca defended his staff of 150 librarians at the community's 12 branches, particularly after he said a patron called the police.Inform staff about library content. Nobody was arrested.

“This was an experience they never imagined. It's unfair," LaRocca said. “None of us are hairdressers or pedophiles or anything. It is very difficult to see such things.”

Most of the 150 books in the complaints are not in the children's section, according to St Tammany's Parish Library. Twenty-five percent of the books marked as content are written for adults and can be found in the adult section. Fifty-nine percent is written for teenagers ages 12 to 17. Non-fiction books written for teenagers are filed in the adult section, but have a special "YA" designation identifying them for teenagers. Young people's literature is stored in a separate area. 14% of the books surveyed are in the children's section. Four of the books surveyed are not part of the library stock.

St. Tammany's parish library will seek help from state legislators and will not support the extension of an upcoming tax to fund the library if members are not successful at the local level, Cougle said.

"In the absence of significant reforms, we cannot support such a renewal when our taxes are being used to defy the wishes of community residents and target our children," he said.

Spread the stack

Elsewhere in the state, concerns about LGBTQ issues in libraries have reached boiling point. In 2018, the community of Lafayette got excited about a Draq Queen Story Time event at the Lafayette Public Library. Since then, at least three people who oppose Story Time events have been appointed to the Lafayette Community Library Board of Supervisors.

One member, Robert Judge, who was elected chairman of the council in October, arranged for two armed deputies to the Lafayette Township Sheriff to flank the council during months of contentious meetings.

Last February, the judge called Matthew Humphrey, an LGBTQ advocate and organizer of Drag Queen Story Time.out of stockfor speaking out of order during the meeting.

"Robert Judge is arming law enforcement to silence minority voices and will stop at nothing unless we fight back," Humphrey said.

Almost a year later, Melanie Brevis, a mother who accused the council of "hateful and bigoted acts", was abruptly silenced and later removed by two MPs.

The judge continues to enforce new rules he issued last year that prohibit residents from directly addressing or criticizing board members while posting a sign outside the meeting room door setting out the law of disruption.

"The people of this community have the right to expect public meetings to be held in a civil manner on their behalf," the judge wrote in a statement. "The chairs of these meetings have a duty to maintain order at these meetings."

During the meeting, the board's attorney, Paige Beyt, said the new rules have precedent in state law and "allow no debate or confrontation with the board."

"When behavior reaches the level where it affects business, boards can set rules for efficient business conduct," he said.

Brevis, who has gone from "mother" to concerned citizen and community activist in recent years, is baffled by one-sided efforts to limit opponents' debate.

"It was definitely unnerving, which I think was the purpose of the meeting. The other scary thing is that these officers couldn't tell me why they were escorting me," Brevis said. "He didn't say anything hateful or threatening. I don't want to sound too dramatic when I call it a police state, but it's definitely not a free society."

Brevis said it was all part of a far-right religious efforttakes care of library meetingsat a time when the board is being asked to consider banning books and videos on LGBTQ issues and containing sexual content.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we've reached boiling point yet," Brevis said.

For LaRocca, "a book can open a window on the world from a very safe place." But in Louisiana, the book fight rages on, and librarians feel under attack in their quiet surroundings.