As Daily Kos has continued to cover, conservatives are trying to isolate and ostracize LGBTQ+ youth (and, for that matter, adults) as much as possible as we head into the midterm elections. Why? Because Republicans are eager to distract from their failures to lead by any means necessary, and that includes inciting hatred against vulnerable people if it means getting misled folks to the voting booths on behalf of the party. It’s a mess.
In addition to efforts to keep trans youth separated from their peers in sports, and to try and silence LGBTQ+ teachers, staff, and even discussions about orientation and identity in public schools, conservatives have also decided to go after books. Thanks to far-right conservative groups infiltrating school boards across the nation, we’ve seen a number of folks (not even all of whom are parents or have children in the district) stoke hysteria about books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color in school libraries and classrooms, as well as public libraries.
One recent example of this reign of terror comes to us out of a public library in northern Idaho, where Kimber Glidden, who served as the library director for the county, has been forced to resign from her position after concerns over threats and intimidation, as well as fears of escalating right-wing extremism, as reported by The Guardian.
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Glidden shared a Facebook post on the library’s page about her decision, including noting that she’s actually considered moving from the area entirely as a result of all of this.
“Nothing in my background could have prepared me for the political atmosphere of extremism,” she wrote in part. “Militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics and threatening behavior currently being employed in the community.”
Glidden, who was only hired one year ago, has already been exhausted and burned out by senseless opposition to her efforts to rejoin the American Library Association (ALA) and people not wanting to “hear the truth” when she tries to answer their questions and concerns.
“It wasn’t a final straw,” she told the Spokesman-Review in an interview. “So much as a constant barrage of the same rhetoric and people not listening to my answers.”
What happened in the community? Irate parents became involved in the school board and pushed to have the library begin shelving materials differently and including warning labels for certain content. They claim it’s about “protecting” youth from inappropriate or pornographic material, but we all know it's actually coded language to get rid of books by and about queer people.
Glidden told the outlet the library doesn’t even stock many of the titles that have been getting national media attention in these pointless debates, but that a parent group called the Boundary County Library Board Recall has been hell-bent on recalling four out of five members of the library board of trustees in order to “protect” children from “grooming” materials.
Really what the group is trying to do is control and limit what the library can acquire in the future, which is dangerous for all the obvious reasons. And, yup: There’s that “grooming” allegation again.
Public libraries—and public schools—are an enormous resource for all young people, especially those who are low-income or don’t have supportive families at home. Taking away opportunities to read and learn about other people (or yourself) is incredibly cruel and damaging. It also sends the message that there’s something wrong with queer identity, which is not only incorrect, but deeply harmful, given the ongoing rates of bullying, harassment, and even abuse young queer people face both at home and at school.
Republicans are willing to be as cruel as ever to get votes, and we have to make sure we stand up against this hatred at all levels of government, including our local elections and school boards.