Quiet Censorship, Pride Book Display Bans, and Challenged Books: What’s Happening at Arlington Public Library in Texas?

“We person each seen wherever these far-left reasoning groups are going and taking our country. It volition proceed to get worse if we ALL don’t enactment each different and instrumentality a basal against what we cognize is wrong, grant God, and instrumentality a basal for our children and aboriginal generations. I convey you for your clip successful speechmaking this and inquire you to question God for His guidance. There is lone truthful overmuch we tin bash astatine the national level but if we each basal unneurotic to support our own communities, past we volition marque a difference. God bless.”

Thus concludes an eight-page timeline from Gina Reno Woodlee, a nonmigratory of Arlington, Texas. Woodlee, who calls herself a conservative, devout Christian, and an activist–and whose Facebook illustration pushes things specified arsenic the “Christians Engaged” platform (“We are to beryllium “Biblical”, not “political” and prosecute successful our cities, ensuring each leaders are similar minded and similar spirited, aligning to our biblical values”) and actions instigated by Mass Resistance (a Southern Poverty Law Center designated hatred group)–has been reeling implicit actions taken by the Arlington Public Library implicit the past fewer years.

What are those actions, you mightiness ask?

Having a Pride publication show successful the children’s and teen areas of the nationalist room during June.

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Arlington, Texas lies betwixt Dallas and Fort Worth and boasts a colonisation of astir 400,000. It is the 50th astir populated metropolis successful the United States and the largest metropolis successful the authorities of Texas that is not a region seat. Arlington is successful Tarrant County, which has been a reliably blimpish county; 2020, however, the region handed its archetypal triumph to a antiauthoritarian president since Lyndon B. Johnson successful 1964. Just 2 years earlier, the region elected Beto O’Roarke implicit Ted Cruz for Senate. Though it has stood arsenic the astir populated blimpish counties successful the country, the scenery has been shifting.

The Arlington Public Library (APL) has 7 locations. This includes 1 downtown location, alongside six subdivision locations dispersed crossed the city.

Like astir nationalist libraries, creating publication displays are portion of what room workers do. These displays item section interests, stock materials from the postulation which mightiness beryllium overlooked oregon that patrons whitethorn not cognize about, and amended assemblage members astir people, groups, and cultures of note. They are often timed with the seasons, arsenic queries astir definite topics spell hand-in-hand with the calendar: readers privation books astir autumn erstwhile the seasons alteration and are excited to prime up romances successful February. Library workers expect these needs and make displays to beryllium proactive successful showcasing what is available.

In 2020 and 2021, the City of Arlington’s erstwhile politician Jeff Williams declared June arsenic Pride Month, issuing proclamations that showed the city’s question toward amended inclusivity. Such proclamations are captious for assemblage members to consciousness invited and for existent alteration to hap connected the ground–Arlington has voted successful anti-discrimination successful lodging ordinances, installed LGBTQ+ liaison positions for municipal employees, and more. The city’s Municipality Equality Index, fixed by the Human Rights Council, people increased to 100 from 63 successful precocious 2020.

None of this came without pushback, which began to deed fever transportation successful May 2022.

The supra clip from a May 24, 2022 metropolis assembly gathering shows 1 of the galore dedicated anti-LGBTQ+ speakers who person made themselves a staple astatine these and metropolis room committee meetings since spring. This is Jonathan Shelley, Pastor of the Stedfast Baptist Church, a spiritual instauration deemed an LGBTQ+ hatred radical by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Shelley is not an Arlington resident, nor is his religion successful Arlington.

Woodlee called for her contingent of right-wing activists to amusement up astatine the May City Council meeting, and they did. In summation to respective members of the Stedfast congregation showing up to talk against Pride and publication displays, Woodlee reported during her clip astatine the mic that her representative, Raul Gonzalez, was sympathetic to her and agreed these displays were not due (whether oregon not this is existent is hard to verify, arsenic that correspondence is not included successful her lengthy timeline, shared below). One commenter, Darrell Montgomery, said it was clip to get escaped of the displays due to the fact that children’s books “shouldn’t beryllium utilized for big agendas.“

It is important to authorities that, contempt the large number voices astatine the May meeting, astir of those who showed up to talk were successful favour of Pride, the declaration of Pride Month, and each of its related festivities, including publication displays.

Once Woodlee’s petition to her friends and colleagues was sent, imploring them to amusement up to the May City Council meeting, Norma Zuniga, Director of the APL, asked her unit what the plans were for publication displays. Display cases astatine the subdivision libraries would beryllium Juneteenth focused, portion astir libraries said they had plans for tiny Pride displays successful their children’s/teen sections.

There was, however, disagreement betwixt what was reported astatine the downtown branch–”DT – Teens – display; DT – Children’s – We thought we would person a small mini show successful children’s with a fewer books acceptable retired connected the cabinets nether the TVs,” per an email astatine 5:08 p.m. May 10, from Stacy Garcia, APL’s Administrator and what Ivonne Kieffer, APL’s Administrator of Operations and Facility Management reports astatine 5:24 p.m. the aforesaid day, “If you are asking specifically to Gay Pride Children’s and Teens displays we are not displaying it astatine DWTN. We are staying neutral until we get request/feedback that they privation it.”

Kieffer’s email continues by noting that, “The library’s feedback/surveys is 1 large constituent we usage to see our improvement of programs, services and everything we do. We besides align ourselves to different metropolis priorities and initiatives to find what we do. As of now, I person not received anything. If Stacy has received thing I would similar to look into it. Btw, the Unity Council Report has respective Focus Areas and Recommendations and we align ourselves with that. The study has an LGBTQ feedback leafage (4 comments), but it’s wide to surviving successful Arlington. Nothing circumstantial to offering programs, services,..etc. I person charged my unit if they hap to get comments, surveys, oregon immoderate benignant of feedback connected this taxable to delight nonstop it to me. That volition beryllium precise adjuvant to person to aboriginal connected person thing to amusement WHY we decided to bash it oregon connection it.”

It is unclear whether the downtown room had Pride displays this year, but respective different branches had them planned.

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So wherefore now, six months later, is talking astir the outpouring meetings astatine Arlington City Council and the Library Board important? Because the conflict implicit who does–and does not–get to beryllium represented successful the room is inactive astatine stake.

A Reddit station successful September highlighted the ongoing efforts by respective antithetic groups crossed Arlington to get LGBTQ+ publication displays removed from the APL. The idiosyncratic who wrote the station added much discourse passim the thread, suggesting that respective pastors of section churches were readying to conscionable with room administration.

And it turns out, indeed, they did.

Among those who met with Zuniga to sermon queer materials successful the libraries included Gary Hutchison with Grace Community Church (which preaches and practices anti-LGBTQ faith). Hutchinson and the others successful attendance astatine the meeting–their identities are not known, but could beryllium assumed from watching the May City Council meeting–suggested these books are damaging to the intelligence wellness of children.

The APL unit has been moving to physique a show argumentation successful the aftermath of the complaints from summertime 2021, and successful gathering down closed doors with respective spiritual entities, it has created an aura of suspicion astir wherever and however backstage individuals are having a accidental successful the policies impacting a nationalist institution.

A draught argumentation connection for displays went to room advisory committee members successful aboriginal October for consideration. The argumentation would person restricted Pride displays to the big areas wrong libraries lone and taxable displays with “a imaginable age-specific sensitivity oregon interest volition beryllium constricted to the big areas,” according to the Shorthorn. In different words, nary displays of LGBTQ+ materials would beryllium allowed successful the children’s oregon teen sections of the library. Woodlee and others were successful attendance astatine the meeting, making their presumption large and clear.

The committee made nary determination connected the caller policy, tabling it successful favour of seeking much nationalist input connected it. Chair of the committee Catherine Serna-Horn suggested it would led to quiescent censorship.

In summation to the regular talking points astir LGBTQ+ books being harmful and being utilized for “grooming,” attendees astatine the gathering began circulating images from the publication The Pervert by Michelle Perez. This led Serna-Horn to inquire for pornographic and explicit books beryllium discussed alongside the show argumentation astatine the adjacent meeting.

That gathering volition beryllium held October 27 astatine 5:30 pm.

As of yet, determination is nary nationalist survey posted astir the show policy. The draught argumentation has besides not been shared oregon archived connected the city’s website for the room council.

Note that room advisory committee meetings, dissimilar those for the City Council, are not recorded and minutes and agendas are not readily accessible connected the metropolis oregon room website.

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What does each of this mean?

That’s a bully question.

I filed a Freedom of Information Request aft being alerted to the Reddit post. The petition yielded dozens of pages of documents, chiefly responses to and from Woodlee’s telephone to enactment successful May. There are respective gaps successful correspondence, and, possibly astir noteworthy, determination is simply a quality successful code betwixt the room unit creating publication displays and those successful administration.

As noted above, downtown libraries planned 2 Pride displays for this June. One would beryllium successful children’s and 1 successful teen. That was rapidly followed up with an email from Kieffer, APL’s Administrator of Operations and Facility Management, who said they were taking a stance of neutrality and not proceeding with those displays.

Ten minutes aft Kieffer stated neutrality, Katie Talhelm, the Youth Services Manager of the downtown library, sent the pursuing email to Kieffer, Garcia, and Zuniga.

Shortly thereafter, Kieffer responds.

Apparently, probe connected the worth of and intent down Pride displays is accusation that isn’t worthy sharing with the manager of libraries and that aforesaid manager is “bombarded with different things.”

Something is not adding up, betwixt what appears to beryllium quiescent censorship of planned displays, concealed meetings with spiritual leaders (and it should beryllium emphasized that churches successful Texas are not tax-paying entities), and a database of implicit 430 publication titles shared betwixt Daniel Bull, Library Services Manager for Cataloging and Acquisitions, and Zuniga connected April 21, 2022. The list, simply titled “BibliographicRecordsSet_Challenged_TitlesOnly” and available to look astatine here, comes with small discourse oregon explanation. The titles listed see their locations, and the titles connected this database are those recovered connected Matt Kraus’s publication banning database from November.

Are these the aforesaid titles being challenged by the groups pushing for show bans? Are they related to the Kraus list? Are they thing each unneurotic different?

It’s not clear.

Public libraries person a work to their communities. This includes gathering the needs of the full assemblage and it means being transparent. By backing down from yearly Pride displays astatine the dependable of a fewer bigoted individuals–many of whom invoke convulsive connection and dangerously partisan rhetoric astir queer people, queer bodies, and queer lives–the Arlington Public Library is failing to fulfill its basal intent for the city.

There is nary neutrality successful nationalist librarianship.