The mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi just recently cut off funding to the local library, demanding that all "homosexual materials" be removed. This occurred after the library put out a display that included several LGBT-oriented books. The library refused to allow such censorship and raised over $100,000 to remain in operation through t…
The mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi just recently cut off funding to the local library, demanding that all "homosexual materials" be removed. This occurred after the library put out a display that included several LGBT-oriented books. The library refused to allow such censorship and raised over $100,000 to remain in operation through the fall.
Once lawyers got involved, the city changed its story and said they were merely looking to renegotiate their contract with the library, thus allowing them to include language in the contract enabling the city to object to books and displays of "adult material", referring to books depicting LGBT individuals.
The entire series of events was triggered by the chairman of the board of a conservative think tank based in Mississippi called the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, who lodged the complaint about the books with the Ridgeland mayor. What I find remarkable is that if they had demanded that the library remove all books depicting African-Americans, the law would be clear on the legality of such a request. But somehow the same standard doesn't apply to LGBT individuals.
The mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi just recently cut off funding to the local library, demanding that all "homosexual materials" be removed. This occurred after the library put out a display that included several LGBT-oriented books. The library refused to allow such censorship and raised over $100,000 to remain in operation through the fall.
Once lawyers got involved, the city changed its story and said they were merely looking to renegotiate their contract with the library, thus allowing them to include language in the contract enabling the city to object to books and displays of "adult material", referring to books depicting LGBT individuals.
The entire series of events was triggered by the chairman of the board of a conservative think tank based in Mississippi called the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, who lodged the complaint about the books with the Ridgeland mayor. What I find remarkable is that if they had demanded that the library remove all books depicting African-Americans, the law would be clear on the legality of such a request. But somehow the same standard doesn't apply to LGBT individuals.