Millage fails for Michigan library defunded over LGBTQ books

The Patmos Library millage failed in the August primary, meaning it lost 84% of its operating budget because its staff refused to remove its LGBTQ books. The board put it on the ballot again on Tuesday's midterms, hoping that with more residents aware of the measure, it would pass.

It failed, again.

Without taxpayer funds, the library will close. Exactly when that will happen is not yet known.

A GoFundMe for the library raised about $265,000, with the help of author Nora Roberts, but it won't be enough to sustain it long-term, the Patmos Library Board said in a plea to voters released just before the election.

"It means a lot that people are standing with this library and our community," the statement reads. "The financial support for the library is incredible and will help us weather the immediate crisis. However, we know very clearly that what this library needs to remain open over the long term is to pass the 10-year levy renewal in November. We cannot run the Patmos Public Library for the next decade without stable taxpayer support. ... If the levy fails, we will put these donations to work in the best way we can for as long as we can."

Just 5,500 residents out of around 10,000 in the township voted on the millage, and 55.8% voted "no."

Connor Cook, a 26-year-old gay man who grew up in Jamestown and now attends medical school at Wayne State University, said he was shocked when he found out it failed. Losing access to the township's only library will have a significant impact on the community, he said, especially because many families homeschool their children and many of them learn how to read at libraries.

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"I honestly assumed it was gonna pass because I've been home twice since the primary and just talking with neighbors, most of them are kind of shocked that it happened to begin with," he said. "Not that they're any more affirming of (LGBTQ) people or anything, they do just like the concept of having a library. ... I was just expecting there to be a reactionary turnout in favor of continuing the millage, but there was clearly not."

Book banning and education reform became major talking points for Michigan Republican candidates on the campaign trail, feeding into the growing national movement.

PEN America published a report in September on banned books across the country that found that 41% of those books contain LGBTQ themes and 40% contain prominent characters of color.

"Our tax dollars should never be spent (on) grooming children," Jamestown Township resident Donna Rotman said at an Aug. 8 board meeting. "The content in some of the books contains graphic sexual dialogue and narratives. No child has an innate sense of being genderqueer or gender fluid. It is manipulative, destructive and wrong. A library that pushes this agenda is disrespectful."

At a Dearborn school board meeting in October, hundreds of protesters shut down the meeting with cries of anger over certain LGBTQ books they said are too sexually explicit for children. Protesters held up signs that read, "Keep your dirty books in the closet," "Homosexuality big sin" and "Keep your porno books to yourself."

The book that sparked the calls to remove LGBTQ books from the shelves at Patmos is called "Gender Queer: A Memoir." It's the most banned book in the country, according to the New York Times.

Patmos Library refused to ban "Gender Queer" from the library but did remove it from its spot in the adult section and placed it behind the counter. Interested readers would have to specifically ask for it.

Residents also wanted to ban “Kiss Number 8" and "Spinning," both graphic novels that depict girls realizing they want to kiss other girls. Neither contains nudity.

Cook grew up working in the Patmos Library and spending time with the librarians; it was his safe space in a very religious and conservative town. He said he's worried about the LGBTQ kids who still live in the township and are seeing their community's response to who they are.

"A (yard sign) was describing us as filth," he said. "I imagine it feels very isolating. I remember how scared I felt — I definitely didn't have any friends who knew I was gay or who I knew were gay until college — so the isolation must be pretty intense."

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Beyond the shock and disappointment, Cook said he primarily feels resigned.

"If we aren't committed to upholding our mutual resources out of respect to all of our citizens, everyone gets hurt," he said. "No one wins in this and the people who lose first are our kids. ... A significant percentage of children will have their lives affected forever.

"We're not going anywhere, so I just hope your kids have a library."

Contact Emma Stein: estein@freepress.com and follow her on Twitter @_emmastein.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Millage fails for Patmos Library defunded over LGBTQ+ books