Every few weeks brings us a reminder of how weak a moral fabric religious leaders believe their flock to be made of. This week we go to Maine, where the Rumford Public Library was gearing up for the annual “Banned Books Week.” Books like To Kill A Mockingbird and The Kite Runner are usually on display, reminding everyone that sexy-time in books gets the more puritanical members of society too hot and bothered, while other books speak to similar but more bigoted readings. Specifically, books with a LGBT-positive bent.
The display coincides with Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read, highlighting books that often draw challenges in schools and libraries. Half of the books on this year’s American Library Association Top 10 Banned Books list tell stories of LGBTQ characters. Books representing a wide variety of experiences and voices allow readers, particularly children, to find connection, safely explore unfamiliar ideas, and broaden their understanding of the world.
On September 11, over 70 met at the library to discuss the “banned books” display that was protested in a letter sent to the library’s director. The letter was posted publicly on the library’s Facebook page and a big discussion ensued on line.
The letter, according to the Sun Journal, was sent out by Dan Pearson, pastor of the Rumford Baptist Church, Justin Thacker, pastor of Praise Assembly of God, and the Rev. Nathan March of Parish of the Holy Savior.
“I think it was unfortunate it was posted publicly, before we had a chance to have a discussion with this small group or to revise some things in it that created some of the hoopla,” Pearson said.
“None of us that signed that are interested in banning or destroying any books. I don’t know how that rumor got started. There was concern because a few of the books on the banned book display, front and center, were displaying sexual themes that we thought were not appropriate for children, especially. Displayed prominently up front, when they’re coming in there.”
And while other pastors said they supported whatever the library’s decision was, Mary Ann Fournier, who grew up going to the library and now works at the library, found the timing strange. When she had done a Pride Month display in June, she hadn’t heard anything from anyone.
“I had ‘Two Boys Kissing’ and ‘My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness’ on that display (books also on the banned books display),” she said. “My question is why didn’t anyone come to me and complain in June?
“And you want me to hide the LGBTQ books that are like bibles to some of these children. Some of these books are stolen by some of these LGBTQ teens because they don’t want their parents to know they’re checking them out,” she said.
The good news in this story is that the pastors who signed the letter seem to have been truly open to an honest discussion about their feelings, and while the library and its trustees have decided to keep the display as is, everyone was able to “talk about feelings they have not talked about before and needed to,” on trusted told the Journal. That’s all you can ask of a community handling change.