MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A Tennessee library board voted Monday evening to remove all books promoting transgenderism to children from its system, facing down protesters who called them “Nazis” for taking the stand.
The Rutherford County Library board voted 5-3 in favor of a resolution to take books encouraging children to adopt radical gender ideology off their shelves. The vote came after a tense 2-hour meeting attended by over 100 community members who showed up at the Historic Rutherford County Courthouse in Murfreesboro, about 34 miles from Nashville, to hear debate on the resolution.
The resolution directed the library to “remove material that promotes, encourages, advocates for or normalizes transgenderism or ‘gender confusion’ in minors.”
After the vote was taken, a group of supporters of the resolution, who showed up wearing white shirts, erupted with cheers and clapping. Opponents, who heckled the board throughout the meeting, shouted things like “Nazis!” at the library board. During debate on the resolution, audience members would break out in cheers after a board member spoke in favor of their position.
Cody York, who introduced the measure, said that he did so because the board had an obligation to protect children.
“The library board is expending money to keep books on the shelf. By just keeping a book we are making a decision to expend funds, taxpayer dollars, to keep those books there,” York said. “Books that promote transgender ideology are harmful to children.”
York referenced detransitioners across the country who have sued their doctors for performing transgender medical procedures on them.
“The state and federal government have determined that these are harmful practices,” York said, pointing to President Donald Trump’s executive order that the federal government would not promote transgender procedures on kids. “The fact that some children in our community struggle with gender confusion means that we should be equipping them to successfully deal with the dangers of, and root cause of, that danger.”
Before the votes, 10 community members were given 3 minutes each to speak.
“If we cause children to go down this road, they can make decisions they will regret for the rest of their lives. When we expose them to things that they don’t have a level to understand, it’s really sexualizing them,” a woman named Michelle said, urging the board to take away books promoting transgender ideology. “Children, they don’t have a capacity for this. If we say we love them, if we say that ‘you are loved,’ ‘we loved you,’ we should want to tell that person the truth. Love is truth.”
Under the new policy, staff at libraries across the county would have to flag books promoting transgender ideology to kids and turn them over to the board for evaluation.
Board members who voted in favor included York, Marzee Woodard, Dina Piazza, Susan Quesenberry, and Shaun Wright. Those who voted against included Benjamin Groce, Kory Wells, and Rollie Holden.
Previously, in the meeting the board voted to remove a book called “Me & My Dysphoria Monster,” a children’s illustrated book that tells the story of a boy who believes that he is a girl who meets a “trans man” who teaches him about gender dysphoria.
That vote was 5-2 along almost the same lines as the other vote, except with an abstention from Holden.
Tennessee state lawmakers have already moved to get sexually explicit books out of school libraries, and this new Rutherford County resolution would enact a similar policy at the county level for transgender ideology.
