Tennessee librarian fired after refusing to move LGBTQ+-themed children’s books to adult section

A Tennessee librarian has been fired after refusing to move the names of more than 100 LGBTQ+ children to the adult section of the library system.

The Rutherford County library board on Monday voted to fire Luanne James after a heated emergency meeting that included her supporters chanting “We stand with Luanne!” while wearing shirts that read “Protect the freedom to read.”

The meeting also attracted detractors of James, and one person said: “Their goal is not to try to get books for their children but to try to put them in the hands of our children – and the things they teach in these books are obvious lies.”

Before his dismissal, James stood firm in his decision, saying: “I will not change my mind.”

In a letter sent to the Rutherford County library board earlier in March, James criticized the board’s order to remove the children’s titles, saying: “Preventing access to these publications by moving or removing them is a violation of the public’s right to access information and a direct violation of the principles of freedom of speech.”

He added: “Our libraries are funded by citizens, therefore, the right to access information – without government interference – is a protected symbol of our democracy.

“My duty to protect the public is not just a personal opinion, but the foundation of the American Library Association’s ethical principles.

James said he would not obey the board’s order, saying that doing so would violate the first amendment’s right to free speech “of all the citizens of Rutherford county and myself”.

He added: “As a result, I would neglect my duty to oppose the discrimination given by the government.”

Meanwhile, the chairman of the library board, Cody York, defended the group’s decision, saying: “I would argue that gender confusion. [is] the idea of ​​telling someone that boys are not boys, they can be girls, and that girls are not girls, they can be boys, and that you should advocate [or] promote healthy genital mutilation.”

Claims like York’s — particularly the framing of gender-based care for children as “dismemberment” of organs — are common points of contention among conservatives.

However, they have been widely dismissed by health care professionals, who emphasize that gender-based care comes in many forms including mental health support and – in some cases – reversible treatments such as blockers. Many hospitals do not offer pediatric surgery at all.

After James’ firing, PEN America’s Freedom to Read program director, Kasey Meehan, said the fired director “demonstrated his deep commitment to the freedom of reading and the principles of reading books, at great cost”.

“His story will be the same … across the country as a symbol of the fight against oppression and oppression,” Meehan said, as reported by the Tennessee Advocate.

Amid a nationwide increase in book bans and widespread attacks targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including more than 500 legal cases, journalists from at least half a dozen countries have joined human rights groups to push back. That includes working to protect LGBTQ+ rights and challenging what librarians and their allies call “the manufactured crisis”.