Mayor tells library to ditch LGBTQ books — or lose funding, Mississippi officials say
The director of a Mississippi library system says its funding is being threatened — and withheld — over the mayor’s personal issues with LGBTQ+ books on display at the city library.
Tonja Johnson, who heads the Madison County Library System, said Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee has refused to release $110,000 in funding unless library officials agree to purge the shelves of books featuring LGBTQ themes and characters, multiple news outlets report.
“He explained his opposition to what he called ‘homosexual materials’ in the library, that it went against his Christian beliefs, and that he would not release the money as long as the materials were there,” Johnson told the Mississippi Free Press.
Johnson argued that the library system serves “the entire community,” to which McGee reportedly replied, “... the library can serve whoever we wanted, but that he only serves the great Lord above,” she told the outlet.
City officials received a handful of complaints from citizens about the books that were originally part of a display in the children’s section at a Ridgeland library in September, according to the Clarion Ledger. One of the titles was “Toby Wears a Tutu” by Lori Starling, which details the first day of school for a child who enjoys wearing “basketball shorts and tutus” and “playing ninjas and dancing ballet.”
McClatchy News reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on Friday, Jan. 28, and was awaiting a response.
Addressing the controversy, McGee didn’t cite LGBTQ literature as a reason for his decision to withhold the funds but said he felt some of the titles are “inappropriate” for kids, the Associated Press reported.
“There is a minimum, sexual connotations are not appropriate for children when they enter the library,” he said, according to the outlet.
The city’s Board of Aldermen has approved the city’s budget for the year, including the $110,000 meant for the Madison County Library System, according to the Free Press. That comprises about 5% of the system’s annual budget, Johnson said, and could have sweeping effects if McGee doesn’t release the money.
“It would definitely impact services,” Johnson told the newspaper. “I can tell you that there’s a potential for staff members to lose their positions if the board is not able to move funding from something else to keep those positions open.”
Efforts to remove ‘sexually explicit,’ LGBTQ books
Mississippi is the latest state to see attempts by public officials to pull books that discuss gender identity and other LGBTQ+ themes from libraries.
In Oklahoma, lawmakers have proposed a bill that would allow parents to demand the removal of certain titles from their kids’ schools, including those that explore “the study of sex, sexual preferences, sexual activity, sexual perversion, sex-based classifications, sexual identity or gender identity,” McClatchy News reported. Librarians who don’t comply would risk losing their jobs, or would be banned from teaching at a public school for two years.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called on the state’s Education Department to ban the award-winning “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by author Maia Kobabe, decrying the book as “obscene and pornographic,” according to The State.
Republican Texas Rep. Jeff Cason has made similar objections against LGBTQ literature in schools and released a statement directing the state’s Attorney General to investigate books containing “sexually explicit material.”
Attack on ‘safe spaces’
The jury is still out on whether McGee has the legal authority to continue holding the library system’s funds.
Jason McCarty, executive director of Capital City Pride in Jackson, said he sees the mayor’s decision as a threat on “safe spaces.”
“As the executive director of Capitol City Pride, it is our job to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people and I believe that the library is a safe space,” McCarty told WLBT. “The library is a place kids and teens and adults can go to escape the world and dive into a great book and learn about new things.”
“I think when we start putting our personal opinions into situations, that’s when we can go wrong,” he added.
Ridgeland is about 12 miles north of Jackson.
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