Rochester council, and community, reject bid to ban four LGBTQ+ books: 'This is an attack'

ROCHESTER — City Councilor Jim Gray's attempt to ban four books dealing with LGBTQ+ topics from the city library was resoundingly rejected Tuesday night.

About 20 community members turned out to oppose the effort by Gray, who is also a Republican state senator. The City Council voted 12-1 to remove Gray's request to discuss his proposed ban from the meeting agenda.

"I think this is nonsense," Rochester resident Brian Carroll said. "There are so many other issues the council should be dealing with, not worrying about reading a book. Some kids might need the help they can find there. I do not believe the library trustees would place anything inappropriate on the shelves."

Rochester resident Gina Randall said she saw Gray's effort as an attack on the LGBTQ+ community, with the books being only an excuse.

"There has never been a community that banned books that we didn't look back on as the bad guys," Rochester resident Derek Berndt said. "This is an attack on queer folk, and I do not want that in my city. I want us to respect everyone. Hopefully us being here sends a message that the small group with hate in their hearts will get."

In defending his proposal, Gray said he was misrepresented by the media stating he was among those people supporting a nationwide movement to ban books.

Previous story: A Rochester councilor wants to ban four LGBTQ+ books

"The images are of cartoon type characters involved in sexually explicit activities," Gray said at an earlier meeting. He repeated his stance Tueday night that he wanted the discussion to "find out the current ordinances and have a discussion of what are the appropriate actions to be taken."

His comments sparked a burst of laughter from the audience.

Three of the books Gray had targeted are graphic novels: "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe, "Flamer" by Mike Curato and "Let's Talk About It" by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. The fourth is "Here and Queer" by Rowan Ellis. All four are in the Dover Public Library, and three are in the Rochester Public Library.

Books targeted by Gray have also been targeted for bans nationally, in many cases successfully, by conservative activists amid ongoing culture wars. "Gender Queer," which is about the author coming out as nonbinary, was the most banned book of 2021, a year when book bans soared in the United States, according to The Associated Press.  Almost all of the books targeted by those seeking to ban them deal with race, gender or sexuality, USA Today reported.

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Councilor Dana Berlin made the motion to remove Gray's agenda item, which required a two-thirds vote to pass and received 12 of 13 votes. Gray cast the lone vote in favor of keeping the agenda item.

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"This has a strong appearance of targeting a specific class of people, so I make a motion to remove it from the agenda,"  Berlin said.

Several councilors spoke in favor of Berlin's motion.

City Manager Blaine Cox said nine letters of public input had been received opposing Gray's agenda item.

"This is intended for a certain group of people," Councilor Amy Malone said. "It should not be on the agenda."

Cox had previously said the City Council does not have the authority to ban books, citing state law that says library trustees control which books are offered. City Attorney Terence O'Rourke previously said there is no pornographic content in the books Gray targeted.

Community members share views opposing Gray's proposal, too

Before Tuesday night's meeting, while the council was in nonpublic session, audience members were very open about attending the meeting specifically to oppose Gray's book ban proposal.

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Milton Elementary School librarian Dale Osborne-Harrington said she is the parent of a non-binary adult. She said for her the issue is freedom of speech.

"Most librarians are not in favor of censorship," she said. "If you don't want to read a book, don't check it out. I firmly believe the books are important and helpful, they make the journey easier for a person if they can find access of information to the help they need."

Haley Brown said barring kids from seeing the information they need is very damaging.

"It doesn't make them less queer it only makes them alone and afraid," Brown said. "People get caught up in the intellectual discussion of this and do not see the harm they are causing to a child, especially those whose parents are not affirming."

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Linds Jakows, co-founder of 603 Equality, said even though they know the council does not have the authority to remove library books, the fact that it was being considered for discussion was concerning.

"We trust the library trustees to choose the books for the library," Jakows said. "This is concerning as a message for kids who might need this information (or) this help."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Rochester NH LGBTQ+ books ban proposed by Jim Gray is rejected