In California in February, the Yolo County chapter of a parental-rights advocacy group called “Moms for Liberty” reserved a room at Yolo County’s Mary L. Stevens – Davis Branch Library. According to the “Alliance Defending Freedom,” (ADF) the world’s largest legal organization advancing the God-given right to live and speak the truth, the group had planned to host a discussion about children’s books published by the company Brave Books, which promotes traditional family values.
However, two libraries were concerned over the organization and its members, including Moms for Liberty-Yolo County Chair Beth Bourne who was being accused of “transphobia” by other parents.
Another library employee contacted a local LGBT group where Bourne was labeled a “vocal anti-trans member of the community.” The library employee, in a counter- measure, had wanted to schedule a competing drag queen story hour the same time as the Moms for Liberty event.
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Another librarian took what ADF calls “multiple steps to undermine the event in the days leading up to it” which included sending an email to staff that labeled Moms for Liberty as “anti-LGBTQIA, anti-woke, (and) anti-critical race theory.”
Only 25 people attended the Moms for Liberty event, including three protesters. So it wasn’t a big deal and it went off without disruption.
Moms for Liberty continued to host a series of events at the library over the next five months including a screening of a movie detailing the harmful and irreversible consequences of “gender transitions.” During the event, a protester stood in front of the room and held up signs. Other protesters were outside making disruptive noises that made the film hard to hear.
At another event that discussed how certain books that are at schools and libraries are inappropriate, about 15 protesters spoke out of turn, disrupted the event and prevented it from going on as planned. The library didn’t remove any of the protestors, stop them from interrupting the event, or discipline them.
As Moms for Liberty continued to hold events at the library, the protesters continued to show up and the library did not stop the protesters from disrupting the events. In fact, when Moms for Liberty hosted an event titled “Forum on Fair and Safe Sport for Girls,” which they called an event to empower and protect girls’ sports and female athletes, a librarian, before the event, told the organizers that California state law recognizes “transgender” as “protected” and that they would have to refer to men who identify as women as women.
Then the librarian cited the “Library Code of Behavior” which they said requires anyone on library property to treat people, materials and furniture with respect (furniture has rights??!) and said that if the organizers spoke about biology they wouldn’t be showing “respect” to people who identify inconsistent with their sex. The librarian allegedly threatened that such talk would result in the presenters being removed from the library.
As Sophia Lorey, a former women’s college soccer player, started talking about her experience in athletics and discussed concerns about men playing on women’s sports teams, a protester started heckling her.
Not interested in protecting a REAL woman standing in front of her, the librarian told Lorey “California state law recognizes trans women as women” and said she would have to leave if she didn’t parrot that belief. Lorey tried to continue her presentation but protesters laughed and drowned her out. It was when Lorey said, “no matter how hard biological girls work, they will … never be able to be physiologically faster and stronger than biological men that are trying to play in biological female sports” that the librarian demanded that she leave and then threatened to shut down the entire event.
Lorey moved away from the podium but the librarian still cancelled the program anyway and unplugged the projector during the next speaker’s presentation.
So much for living in a free country. So much for a taxpayer-funded library providing a a public space for all. So much for freedom of speech, protecting women and equality. Oh, yeah. Democrats aren’t into equality anymore. They support EQUITY for whatever pet project or group of people they are currently supporting. And they are definitely into censoring speech.
ADF sent a letter to the library demanding that they confirm that they would allow the Moms for Liberty organization to reschedule their Forum and prevent the audience from disrupting their event. However, NOT SURPRISINGLY, the library declined to provide those assurances. As a result, the ADF and the Institute for Free Speech filed a lawsuit against the library.
According to the library, it appears that liberty is bad, protecting girls is bad, and freedom of speech is bad…
So WHAT is it that they are interested in protecting?
It looks like they are only interested in protecting drag queen story hours and protesters who agree with them on LGBTQ issues.
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